One Pieces
by Not-a-fanatic-just-a-fan
Summary: One-shots and drabbles. Always marked as complete. Currently rated K. Chapter 14: Shield - He was his swordsman. That was his role on the ship. But the best defense is a good offense. ...or something like that.
1. Chapter 1

This one-shot just kept growing. I got really tired at the end so I sped it up. Sorry for the rushed ending. I'll be putting various one-shots and drabbles in this but I will have it always marked as complete. Some will be long, like this one. Some short. I think the next one is less than 1000 words. It will be just whatever random thoughts and ideas I have. They will mainly feature Zoro, because he's my favorite, but I do have an idea for one for Usopp.

 **Disclaimer** : In a world where 'yes' means 'no', yes, I own One Piece.

* * *

 **Lost**

"'Only the lost will be found'? What the heck does _that_ mean?" The navigator of the Strawhat Pirates read the carved arch in front of them. The writing was deeply carved into the top part still visible even with the obvious signs of weathering.

"Maybe it means that we'll find Zoro?" Luffy said, his arms crossed behind his head, his trademark grin on his face.

"Oi!" Said green-haired swordsman folded his arms angrily. "I'm not lost!"

"Not yet anyway." Usopp muttered to Chopper, who giggled into his hooves, the long-nosed sniper and reindeer doctor glancing surreptitiously at Zoro, who was currently fighting with their blonde, curly-browed cook, who said much the same as Usopp, but louder and in his face.

"This labyrinth is well-known throughout the world." The dark-haired archeologist said, ignoring the squabbling pair. "There have been absolutely no records of anyone making it out. They probably all were dismembered and eaten by the mythical monsters that are said to roam the maze."

"Don't say something so scary so calmly!" Nami shouted angrily, while Brook and Chopper became thoroughly freaked out and Usopp suddenly developed I-can't-go-in-this-labyrinth-itis. For once, Chopper pretended to go along with it, claiming that such a _deadly_ disease should be avoided at all costs.

"Shishishishi!" Luffy laughed and suddenly Nami, Chopper, Usopp, and Brook became extremely depressed.

"We're going, aren't we?" Chopper groaned.

"He's already made up his mind." Usopp sighed.

"I've lived a long mostly happy life. I have only two regrets. That we weren't able to meet again Laboon, and that I didn't see more panties." Brook spoke towards the clouds that were suddenly shining light down as if in welcoming towards the inevitable next life.

"Those're your regrets?" Sanji muttered to the side. He took a long drag from his cigarette before glancing at Nami. "I can respect that."

"We need a plan." Nami said, ignoring Chopper who was poking the bloodied and broken bodies of Sanji and Brook with a stick. "Some way to stay together and not get lost."

"How about a rope?" Robin suggested.

"SUPER idea!" Franky exclaimed before pulling some out of his …chest? "If we tie us together in a line, we won't get SUPER separated."

Everyone paused for a moment to look at Zoro. "What?!" He shouted angrily back at them.

"Can we make this more permanent?" Usopp asked, eying the rope. "Like, make a leash for Zoro at all times?"

"That's not a bad idea, Usopp. Then the idiot marimo won't get lost so often." Sanji said. This led to another fight between the two of them, which was ignored by the group at large.

"Shishishishi! Excellent! Let's go!" Luffy shouted in excitement, his eyes still glittering.

"Wait Luffy!" Nami shouted a little panicked as he started to stride towards the darkened archway. "We haven't tied to rope to you yet!"

A few minutes, and a lot of arguments about who was in front of who later, all nine Strawhat's stood in a line, tied together at the waist. Luffy was of course in the front, having demanded it in no uncertain terms, followed by Nami who would hopefully be able to keep him somewhat straight. Sanji insisted on being right behind his Mellorine. Usopp wanted to be next to someone with fighting power so he came next. Chopper was set safely in the middle. Because of the height difference (and making sure that he was _also_ 'safely' in the middle for a _different_ reason) Zoro came next, followed by Robin, Franky, and Brook, again to adjust for height.

Franky gave them handheld lights that he had made. He called them 'portable nipple lights' but absolutely everyone refused to call them that.

As soon as they were all tied and each held a light, Luffy raised his fists in excitement. "Let's go!" He shouted with a laugh.

And they went.

Within five minutes, everyone (except Zoro) came to the conclusion that they were hopelessly and utterly lost.

"Oh dear." Robin said as the more anxious members were already panicking. "We'll probably be stuck in this maze and die of starvation."

"You're not helping!" Nami shouted from the front as she tried to halt Luffy, push of Sanji, and calm Usopp and Chopper all at the same time.

"Nami-san," Brook said from the back. "I can't see the exit anymore. Not that I can see since I have no eyeballs. Yohohoho! Skull Joke!"

"Ow!" Franky shouted, clashing his arms together. "We are SUPER lost."

"We're all gonna die!" Chopper shouted in a panic.

"Tell Kaya about my brave adventures and my heroism at sea. Tell her about the time I single-handedly defeated an entire army of stampeding giants." Usopp said from his defeated pose on the ground.

"What? Really?" Chopper asked, momentarily side-tracked.

"Come on guys! Just follow me! Maybe we'll meet one of those monsters that Robin talked about and get it to take us to the exit." Luffy grinned confidently.

"We are NOT asking a ferocious monster for directions!" Nami, Usopp, Chopper, and Brook shouted in sync. Nami followed it with a hard punch to his head.

"I don't know why you are all panicking." Zoro said calmly.

"Because unlike some moss-heads, being lost is _not_ a normal thing."

Their fight was broken up by Nami but also by Usopp and Chopper who were stuck in between them.

"Now is not the time to fight!" Nami lectured. "We have to figure out a way out of here!"

"Yes, Nami-swa~n!" Sanji cried with hearts in his eyes. "You are beautiful even when you're lost!"

"What I _meant_ ," Zoro said again, giving Sanji a one-eyed glare, "was that we aren't lost."

Nami groaned. "Zoro, not knowing where we are or how to get somewhere is the definition of 'lost'. And that's where we are right now.

"No we're not." Zoro argued back, folding his arms.

"Are you arguing with the beautiful and brilliant Nami-swa~n, stupid marimo?"

"Yeah, stupid marimo!" Usopp nodded.

"Yeah, stupid!" Chopper added.

"Yeah, santoryu!" Luffy folded his arms.

"'Santoryu' isn't an insult, Luffy." Nami smacked him on the back of his head.

Zoro's temper continued to rise but he kept his hands from grabbing his swords. Just barely. "No, we're right at the exit. I don't know why you all stopped. The exit is right there." He pointed directly in front of them. They all turned and looked.

And saw a solid wall.

They turned back to Zoro with pitying looks.

"That's not an exit, moss-head." Sanji said, lighting another cigarette.

"That's a solid wall." Luffy laughed.

"You can't just go through a wall." Nami lectured.

The rest of the crew probably would have continued to mock him if Luffy hadn't suddenly exclaimed in excitement.

"Oh! I get it!" They all turned to him. "Let's just bust our way out of here!"

"Oh!" Usopp smacked his fist against his open palm. "Yeah! We'll be out of here in no time!"

"Gomu gomu no~" The rest of the crew ducked as Luffy stretched his arm back, almost knocking out Brook who was a little slower to duck.

"Oi, Luffy!" Zoro tried to shout. "You don't need-"

"Pistol!" His elongated arm shot forward before crashing into the wall. The wall didn't budge. Luffy pulled his arm back with a snap. "Huh." He said, examining the pristine wall. "Maybe I should try 'bazooka.'"

"Luffy!" Zoro shouted. "I'm telling you, you can just-"

He was cut off again by the sound of something deeper in the maze. Something big. And probably full of teeth and claws. Maybe even poisonous. And hungry. Very, very hungry.

"Luffy!" Nami shouted angrily, hitting him on the head again. "You alerted the monsters to our presence!"

"I'm too young to die!" Usopp and Chopper shouted, clutching to each other in tears.

"I'm not but I still don't want to!"* Brook shouted, tears somehow coming from his own eye sockets.

There was a moment of silence as they all stared at the darkness of the maze pathways. The sound of something big walking towards them heightening their fear.

"Oh dear." Robin said.

""Luffy!" Nami shouted angrily, hitting him on the head again. "You alerted the monsters to our presence!"

"I'm too young to die!" Usopp and Chopper shouted, clutching to each other in tears.

"I'm not but I still don't want to!"* Brook shouted, tears somehow coming from his own eye sockets.

There was a moment of silence as they all stared at the darkness of the maze pathways. The sound of something big walking towards them heightening their fear.

"Oh dear." Robin said.

" _You_ aren't allowed to say anything!" Nami shouted before she could add some dark statement about how they were all going to be dismembered and eaten.

"Don't worry, Nami-swa~n, Robin-chwa~n!" Sanji shouted happily. "I'll protect you!"

"Let's ask it for directions!" Luffy said.

"We're going to be eaten!" Chopper and Usopp shouted fearfully.

"SUPER bring it on!" Franky said, firming his stance.

"Ah, this rope will make it difficult to fight normally." Brook observed, getting his own sword ready.

The next thing they knew, some large, dark figure came hurtling out of the darkness. Chaos ensued. There was a moment of pushing and pulling as everyone was hindered by the rope when suddenly, parts of it were sliced through by sharp claws. Chopper's and Usopp's and Nami's screams were mingled with Sanji's declarations of love, Franky's shouts, and Luffy's laughter. Glass shattered as some of the handheld lights were dropped and/or crushed. The remaining lights flashed, making distorted shadows. Some of the shouts started to fade as certain individuals ran. Other's tried to fight but were having a difficult time in the chaos _finding_ their foe.

When the dust settled, the Strawhats were split up in four groups.

Luffy, Nami, and Sanji found themselves tied together in a part of the maze that seemed to curve in either direction. Sanji was ecstatic.

Usopp and Chopper were still tied together in a room with multiple staircases, some twisting, some upside down, with no discernable pattern or order.

Robin, Franky, and Brook were still tied together, standing in a circular room with 10 different passages leading out of it.

And Zoro.

Zoro was standing all by himself, a useless piece of rope hung limply around his waist, like a weird belt. Directly in front of him was the same arched door that he figured was the exit. The one that Luffy had somehow failed to punch through with his pistol.

"Everyone else is lost." He muttered to himself. "Why couldn't they see the door?" He shrugged and pulled it open.

Inside was a large circular room covered in gleaming white tile. It was very bright from no discernable source. The walls were covered in screens, each tile a screen and some tiles combined to make a larger one. Various images of the maze were displayed.

In the middle of the room was an old man, hunched over with age, his nose and ears grossly oversized in a way that only someone really old could manage. He was completely bald on top but had a rather impressive gray beard that reached the ground. He held himself up with a cane.

He was staring at Zoro with his jaw dropped and his eyes practically bugging out of their sockets.

"Yo." Zoro said. He could tell that this man wasn't much of a challenge.

"How- when- not- imposs- never-" The man stuttered.

"Oh, look, there's Luffy." Zoro said conversationally, examining one of the screens that was indeed showing a laughing Luffy, a stressed out Nami, and an idiot love-cook.

"HOW?!" The man finally exploded. "No one has ever been able reach here before in so little time! That's just, that's just not possible!"

Zoro raised a brow. "It wasn't that hard. The door was right in front of me."

This statement seemed to shock the man even more. "This is unprecedented!" He exclaimed. "The door only appears to those that are truly lost. The quickest recorded time was a full three days and that person usually got lost anyway! You'd have to have zero directional abilities in order for the door to appear like that so soon."

Zoro scowled. It sounded like the man was making fun of him. "The door was always there. My crew kept passing it."

"WHAT?!" The man looked at him suspiciously. "When did you _first_ see the door."

"When I entered." Zoro said matter-of-factly. "It was right there to the left of the entrance. The only reason I didn't go through was because Luffy walked past it."

The man was stunned speechless at this. Seeing that he wasn't going to say anything more, Zoro walked around the room, examining the different screens.

"Hey, how do I get out of here? Is this the exit?" The question aroused the man enough for him to answer.

"Yeah. You just go out that way." He pointed a gnarled and bony hand towards a large archway that was the same as the entrance. Through it, bright sunlight was beaming through.

"Great. How do I get the rest of them here?" He gestured to the various screens.

The man cleared his throat in an attempt to collect himself. He tried to act slightly mysterious and wise but even if Zoro had been the type to be impressed by things like that, he had already seen the old guy in some not mysterious or wise expressions.

"'Only the Lost will be Found'." He said in a deep somewhat cryptic voice.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Zoro asked, annoyed. Stupid old geezer.

"It means what it means." The old man said in a slightly snooty voice. His voice caught in his throat however when he was suddenly going cross-eyed at the very sharp sword that was pointed unflinchingly in between his eyes.

"It means that this maze will only help those that are lost. Once a person is Lost, the maze will show them the way."

"Aren't they lost?" Zoro asked confused, jerking his chin at the screens where it showed his obviously confused and lost crewmates.

"Being 'lost' and being 'Lost' are two separate things." The man said, going back to his mysterious tone.

Zoro just stared at him. "Whatever. How do I get them here?"

"Go back out. If the maze likes you so much, maybe it will just lead you to them."

Zoro sheathed his sword, either ignoring or not noticing the slightly bitter tone. "Got it." And without another thought, he opened the door again.

Right in front of him, he saw two of the three weakest members of the Strawhats. Usopp was telling an enthralled Chopper all about how he managed to fight his way through a maze twice as large as this one, crawling with mythical creatures that no one even knew existed when he was only 8 years old.

"Hey, Usopp. Chopper." Zoro called out to them. His sudden appearance shocked them, causing both of them to scream in surprise.

"Zoro!" They both shouted happily. Chopper jumped to him and clung to his waist, tears streaming down his face. Usopp looked like he wanted to do the same but refrained due to a sense of pride.

"We were so scared!" Chopper sobbed. "We thought we were going to be eaten by giant monsters and never see anyone every again!"

"Yeah, well, you're not." Zoro said blandly, ignoring Usopp's lie about how they would have been perfectly safe with him and some other such nonsense. "The exit's right here. Follow me."

"Zoro. Are you sure you should be leading?" Both of them asked seriously.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?!" Zoro glared at both of them, daring them to answer. "Do you want to get out of here or not?"

They both looked at each other, nodding once, and turned back to Zoro. "If we follow you, we'll be stuck here forever." They said in perfect unison.

Zoro felt what little patience he had rapidly shrinking. "Fine! If you want to stay here, then stay. _I'm_ going to go through this door." He pointed behind him to the door he had just exited. His crewmates examined the wall he was pointing to, Usopp even pulling one of his goggle eyes down. They looked back at Zoro.

"That's a wall." Usopp said in an obvious tone.

"Do you have a fever, Zoro?" Chopper asked concernedly.

He decided to ignore them. Obviously he was the only one that could see the door. He pulled it open and gestured to the white-tiled room inside. The old geezer was staring at him with the same expression of shock he had just exhibited. Chopper and Usopp now had the same expressions.

"Where did that door come from?" They shouted. Zoro questioned why they were always so in sync.

"It's been here the whole time. How do you think _I_ got here? Come on!" He gestured to the door again, and the two Strawhats walked meekly through. He walked in after them.

"Guys, meet Old Guy. Old Guy, Guys." Zoro's introduction seemed to say it all.

"Where is this?" Chopper asked, looking in awe at the screens.

"The exit." Was all that Zoro supplied before turning around and opening the door again. He was getting the hand of it.

He was deposited in a darkened corridor, no different than any other corridor. He was a little surprised to not see any Strawhats right away, like last time. However, as soon as he thought this, he heard the tell-tale sound of a certain cyborg coming steadily closer. He decided to wait by the door. It sounded like they were just around a shadowed corner. As he waited, a light got closer and closer, a mix between a handheld light and Franky's own built in lights.

"Why were you so sure it was this way, Robin-san?" Brook's voice sounded.

"Just a feeling." Was the enigmatic reply from their resident archeologist.

"Ow!" Franky shouted. "I SUPER trust you in knowing your way around places like this Robin."

"Why thank you Franky. Oh!" They had just turned the corner and Zoro shielded his one working eye from the sudden light. "It appears that we've found you, Zoro."

"More like I found you guys." Zoro said, ignoring Brook's and Franky's excited exclamations. "Follow me. The exit is right here." He didn't bother gesturing towards the door behind him. They probably couldn't see it anyway.

"Are you sure we should be following _you_?" Brook asked skeptically.

"Yeah, you're SUPER not the best with directions." Franky added.

Zoro saw red creeping into his vision. He took a deep breath. "Just trust me."

There was a moment of silence as each member thought about it.

"Very well, Zoro." Robin spoke at last. "Lead the way."

"Are you sure?" Brook asked again.

"Yes." She said, stepping forward.

"How?"

She smiled. "Just a feeling."

Zoro ignored the obvious distrust his crew had and opened the door behind him. There surprise was evident.

"Robin! Franky! Brook!" Chopper shouted excitedly, barreling into Robin just as he had Zoro. "You made it!"

"It seems we did." Robin smiled, ruffling his fur a little.

"Ow! I'm SUPER surprised!" Franky said, looking around the room.

"Indeed. I'm so surprised, my eyes came out of their sockets. Although I don't have eyes. Skull joke! Yohohohoho!"

"I think the maze like Zoro or something." Usopp tried to explain, not really understanding it himself.

"We don't seem to be the last ones." Robin observed.

"I'm on it." Zoro said, and walked out the door again.

He was confronted with an empty hallway again, and this time, he couldn't hear any voices. Since the he was at the end of a dead-end, he simply walked forward. The maze hadn't led him astray thus far.

Getting the trio was a little harder. Apparently the maze didn't like the sea-witch or the ero-cook any more than Zoro did. Or perhaps it was just emulating Zoro's own feelings. He ended up wandering around for a full minute before he heard their voices. Or Nami's screeches to be exact.

"Zoro!"

"Oi, Mosshead."

"Zoro-kun! I'm glad we found you!"

"I found you." He muttered, with his brows furrowed. They ignored him.

"Quick, tie yourself to us. We don't want you wondering off and becoming lost. It's a miracle we even met up." Nami said, smacking Luffy in an attempt to get him to stop being so excited at the prospect of being lost in a maze full of monsters. She failed.

"There's no need."

"Moss-for-brains, don't argue with Nami-swan. Knowing you, you'll end up being lost even just standing there."

The ensuing fight was cut short because Nami was afraid the rope would break even more. Zoro took deep breaths and tried again.

"Listen, I know where everyone else is. They're at the exit. Follow me and I can get you there." He hoped they wouldn't react the same as the last two groups he found.

…He changed his mind. The silent disbelief, almost pitying looks were _much_ worse.

He growled angrily. "You know what?" He said, the last of his temper gone just from looking at the stupid dart-brow's face. "I'm done. I'm going to leave. If you want to follow, then follow. If not, stay here and rot. I don't care." And with that, he abruptly turned and walked away.

They ended up following, but more because they thought that he was going to get lost. For once, the door didn't show up right away. He wished it would. Listening to the three behind him was the worst.

When it did appear, he wasted no time, simply stomped over and yanked it open. He tried not to smirk to big when once again, silence descended on the trio.

The reunion was short and sweet …and pretty much non-existent. They were only separated for like, 5 minutes tops.

They thanked the weird old guy and left the maze.

* * *

When they were all back on the ship, Nami finally let the question that had been bugging her for hours be voiced.

"How?" Zoro looked up from where he was currently trying to take a nap. After they escaped the maze, they ended up have an adventure of Luffy proportions and Zoro was tired after all the fights.

"'How' what?"

"How did you manage to find the exit?" She clarified. "Regardless of how fast, _you_ of all people should have been the last person to find the exit."

"I think I have the answer, Nami-san." Robin said with a smile. Those on deck all turned to look at their archeologist. "Do you remember what was engraved on the entrance?"

"'Only the lost will be found.'" Usopp answered for her. There was a moment of silence before everyone sans Zoro smacked their fist on their open palm in unison with and accompanying, "Ah."

Zoro decided that he _wasn't_ going to be offended or start slicing anyone. Besides, he was tired. So, to salvage the last little bit of pride he had left, he closed his eyes and was asleep in seconds.


	2. Chapter 2

No reason for this. Just bouncing around in my skull for a while. Thought I'd get it out.

 **Disclaimer** : Oda-sensei will release the next chapter on the 23rd of this month. It's currently the 17th. 6 more days. 6 more days. 6 more days.

* * *

 **He was Different**

Nami was the first. She took the entire ship with her. That was kind of rude. When they got to her, she tried pretty hard. 'Go away.' 'I was never your nakama.' 'Leave.'

Then there were tears, some blood, lots of fighting, more blood (the majority from a certain green-haired swordsman), a completely demolished building, and she was back.

Usopp was next. That one was… hard. He didn't sneak off like Nami. He stayed and fought. Like a brave warrior of the sea. Even though he lost.

Then there were tears, some blood, lots of fighting, more blood (by everyone this time), a completely demolished building, an apology, and he was back.

(There was also a mask and a secret identity but only two people were actually fooled so we'll not count that.)

Robin paralleled Usopp's. She snuck out like Nami. Said pretty much the same things too.

Then there were tears, some blood, lots of fighting, more blood, a completely demolished building, tons more tears, and she was back.

Sanji was next surprisingly. No one saw _that_ coming. His was a little like Nami's and a little like Usopp's. He didn't sneak, so much as just leave. He at least told them.

Then there were tears, some blood, lots of fighting, more blood (the majority from a certain blond cook's nose), a completely demolished building, a family's issues, and he was back.

To be fair, he was always planning on returning.

If you're seeing a pattern here, it's because there is one. Eventually, they all left. Chopper. Franky. Brook. There were various reasons. Some serious, some not so much. Usually, they ended the same.

Tears, some blood, lots of fighting, more blood, multiple demolished buildings, and they were back.

Everyone left, at one time or another. Except one.

Except Zoro.

Zoro stayed. Zoro never left. He followed orders (unless he got lost). He fought. He bled. He even cried (about as often as the moon turns blue but it still happened). He was there to pick every single member up the first time and most of them the second time (he wasn't there for Sanji's but honestly, no one expected him to be. Besides, he was busy defeating the strongest man in the world.)

And then the Battle. The Last Battle. Luffy sent the rest of them off to gather allies. The Fleet. Friends. Sometimes even kingdoms. Everyone they were on good terms with. He even called in Sabo. And technically his dad but that's just weird so we'll leave it at that.

Each Strawhat pirate had a group, sometimes several groups, to collect. Some allies of all of them, some just friends of individuals. They all separated with the promise to meet up again There in one month's time. Except one.

Except Zoro. Zoro stayed. Zoro never left. He followed orders. The other's joked it was because he would get lost long before he made it to any of their allies. But he knew that wasn't it. So did Luffy.

Luffy didn't have favorites. Not really. He love for his nakama was different because they were all different, but he would do the same for each and every one of them. They all knew it. They also knew that Zoro was different.

He trusted them all. Without a single thought he would put not only his life but his dream in their hands and completely trust them with it. But Zoro was different.

Perhaps it was because he was the first. Perhaps it was because they had been together the longest. Perhaps it was because he never left, not once.

Whatever the reason, Zoro was asked to stay at Luffy's side. So when they showed up in one month's time, ironically, it was in the reverse order of their addition to the Strawhat crew.

Brook showed up first. They could hear him laughing and playing his violin.

Then Franky. His excited shouts and clash of metal against metal was added to the quiet morning atmosphere.

Robin showed up mostly silent. She giggled a little, a lifetime lived having led to that point.

Chopper came on the backs of some giant birds. They squawked loudly, only understood by Chopper.

Sanji showed up, calmly lighting a cigarette. He shouted joyfully at seeing the lovely Robin-chwa~n.

Usopp came. Even surrounded by giants, his knees knocked together in fright.

Nami came last, only because she had travelled the farthest. They had trusted her because she was their navigator.

There was a long moment, where everyone waited. The calm before the storm. They were waiting for the signal. And then the heard it.

The faint jingle of metal earrings clinking together. There was the louder sound of katanas being readied. Then the unmistakable sound of his laughter. The happy-go-lucky 'shishishishishi'.

Trust Luffy to get excited about going to war against the entire World Government.

They came together. They had borrowed some allies to get them there, since neither had any real sense of direction. But they came, proud as always. And together.

They were together from the very beginning. And they were together in the very end.

They were nakama.


	3. Chapter 3

Drabble about Zoro's …intimidation abilities.

 **Disclaimer** : Zoro's so cute and cuddly! …and on another list of false facts, I totally own One Piece.

* * *

 **Average**

Zoro isn't a scary guy. Not in his mind. He's just an average guy.

Yeah, maybe his hair color is a little strange, but he's seen weirder. Maybe he was muscular in an almost unnatural way, but he's seen bigger. Maybe he had a few scars, but he's seen more. Maybe he carried three swords, but he's seen someone carry at least 8. Maybe he glares a bit, but he's seen a walking skeleton. Maybe he has some bloodlust, but it was nothing compared to some people. Maybe he was quick to draw his swords, but he wasn't usually the first to draw. Maybe he took down a moving mountain without getting a single scratch or even tiring, but Luffy's taken down bigger. Or, at least, stronger. Maybe he didn't smile too much, but it's not like he was constantly baring his fangs or something.

He's honestly not that scary of an individual.

…So why, in the name of all four blues, was everyone running from him as if he were the personification of the plague itself? He was just trying to ask for directions. Not that he was lost. The harbor just moved.

Before he could blink his single seeing eye, the street was completely devoid of any and all lifeform. He let his hand drop.

Stupid weaklings. He'll find his crew by himself.


	4. Chapter 4

I'm putting this in here but I'll have several chapters for it. Randomly and probably not in order. Reviews motivate me which would be good because I'm seriously lacking on the whole motivation thing.

 **Disclaimer** : Surprise! I'm actually Oda-sensei! (This would be more believable if I could pronounce or even spell his first name.)

* * *

 **Story Time 1**

The Strawhats were relaxing. They were finally all reunited, had picked up a 10th member, the bubbly biting bunny classically called carrot, Big Mom and the Germa 66 were defeated by Luffy and co., and Kaido was defeated and Wano saved by Zoro and co., and a second red poneglyph was 'found' (taken) by the Strawhats, and Robin was currently working on deciphering the cryptic 2/4-part message. All in all, it was a well-deserved rest.

Most of the Strawhats were resting on deck, talking, laughing, and generally enjoying each other's company.

"What! An entire island that ate people! Cool!" Luffy, Carrot, and Chopper were listening attentively to Usopp's brave and possibly exaggerated tales of his 2-year training, Carrot nibbling absent-mindedly on Chopper's horn tips.

"How did you survive?" Chopper asked, stars glittering in his eyes.

Now that they had a little down time, the first since they were reunited after their two-year 'break', Usopp wasted no time in telling them all about how his life was in danger 24/7 and how he grew stronger because of it. After Chopper explained how he trained with giant animals, Luffy decided that not only did his nakama get super strong, but they had super cool adventures as well.

Wanting to hear more cool stories to fill the 'boredom' of just sailing, Luffy bounded off, Usopp, Carrot, and Chopper in tow, to the nearest Strawhat, which happened to be Robin.

"Hey, Robin! Where were you for the two years?"

She smiled enigmatically. "I was in several places, Luffy. I traveled a lot."

"Really?" Luffy asked excitedly. "Did you have lots of fun adventures?"

"fufufu. Indeed. The revolutionary army is full of adventures."

"The revolutionary army!?" Usopp, Carrot, and Chopper shouted. Nami who had been walking back from inspecting her orange trees also felt her jaw drop in surprise.

"Wait, does that mean you've met Luffy's dad?" She came over to the little group in order to join in.

"Oh yeah." Luffy smacked his fist on his palm in realization. "He's in that army too."

"He's the leader of it!" Usopp, Chopper, and Nami all shouted and smacked Luffy while Robin just laughed. Carrot started nibbling on Ussop's arm.

"So you got to meet Sabo, my brother?" Luffy asked, completely by-passing the more infamous family member for the one that he actually knew.

"Yes, Luffy. We went on several missions together."

"Really?" Her group asked, taken in by the prospect of fun stories. "Like what?"

Robin smiled. "I'm afraid that _that_ information is classified."

"Eeeehh?!" Was the groaned response.

"So you were in danger a lot?" Nami asked, sitting on the lawn chair next to her.

"Several times, yes. Not all the time, though." Robin explained. "When I was at the Headquarters or in a safe house. I got to meet so many interesting people though."

"Yohohoho!" Brook came up to the group as well. "I did likewise, Robin-san! Going on tour was quite fun!"

Brook and Robin shared a few stories about some of the more …interesting characters they had met during the gap. During that time, Franky and Sanji had both joined the group, Sanji giving tailor-made drinks to the three ladies and simple lemonade to the men. Not that the lemonade wasn't good in its own right.

Franky shared his stories about landing on Vegapunk's home town and discovering his old lab. This amused the boys more than the girls, however.

"Where did you train, Sanji? Must have been somewhere cool, since you came back so strong!" Luffy asked with his trademark grin.

Sanji, who had been in the process of fawning over the newest Strawhat who was now nibbling on his hair, suddenly froze. Carrot backed off, surprised at the cloud of gloom that suddenly surrounded the cook.

"…Sanji-bro?" Franky tentatively asked, somewhat concerned.

"…"

"What was that? I couldn't quite hear that. Not that I have ears to hear! Yohohoho!"

"…Hell." The rest of the Strawhats were somewhat surprised but most decided that since it was causing so much grief to the man that prepared their food, they wouldn't press.

"…I went to a floating island." Nami said, trying to bring back the happier mood that had left thanks to Sanji's depression.

"What?!" Usopp, Chopper, and Luffy asked. "You went to Skypeia?"

"You got to see Conis again?" Chopper asked, excitedly.

"No, no." Nami smiled. "This was a man-made island, Weatheria. It was full of a bunch of old guys who've devoted their lives to studying weather."

"Sounds boring!" Luffy laughed. "Hey! Zoro!" He shouted up the main mast, rubbing his goose-egg provided by a peeved Nami. There was a small moment as the trap-door was opened and Zoro's green-haired head appeared.

"What?" He shouted back, annoyed. He was probably in the middle of a crazy work-out. Or a nap.

"Come over here!" Luffy gestured with his whole arm, nearly smacking Carrot who had moved behind him and was nibbling on his ear.

"Why?" Zoro yelled down, obviously not particularly inclined to join the impromptu party below him.

"Because the captain asked you, you stupid marimo!" Sanji recovered from his depression enough to yell back up at the resident swordsman.

"What did you say, Nosebleed?" Was the angry retort.

"We're telling stories about our adventures while we were separated!" Luffy cut in, laughing at the angry tension between the two main fighters.

"Tch." He said, annoyed. "Hold on a second." He disappeared for a few seconds before reappearing and jumping down, completely ignoring the convenient ladder. He reattached his swords to his hip, leaving the top half of his outfit bunched at his waist as he was still sweating from his work-out. His famous scar was clearly visible slashed across his entire torso.

He plopped down leaning against the mast, downing a glass of lemonade. A myriad of smaller, less noticeable scars were visible, ones that the crew hadn't really noticed since he was usually clothed or covered in bandages.

"It's your turn, Zoro!" Luffy said, when the swordsman had settled down. "We've already heard everyone else's adventures, ignoring the fact that they hadn't, in fact, heard anything about Sanji's. "Where did you go?"

"To an island." Was the curt reply.

"Aww, Zoro." Luffy pouted. "That's boring. Tell us more." He was backed up by the crew, still in story-time mode, added their encouragement.

Zoro rolled his only functioning eye. "It was a deserted island. The kingdom that used to be there were destroyed or left. War and all that." He shrugged nonchalantly, as if wars that were capable of completely destroying a kingdom and wipe out entire civilizations were common occurrences. And given their own track records, they kind of were.

"Eh?" Usopp asked. "So you were all alone on the island?"

"But, how did you get back to Saboady if you were alone?" Nami asked. Everyone was thinking the same thing.

"I didn't say I was alone." Zoro retorted. "There were two people with me for most of my time there. And the baboons." He added as an afterthought. After two years of living with them, it was impossible to simply brush them off as just animals.

"Baboons?" Chopper asked, perplexed.

"Who were the two people, Zoro-san?"

"Perona, the ghost chick from Thriller Bark, and Mihawk."

"Perona?" Usopp's eyes widened. "The pink-haired witch?"

"She was scary." Chopper frowned.

"Oh yeah, that's who she was!" Luffy said.

"Ah, the beautiful lady, Perona-chwan!" Sanji sighed, recalling her from their brief encounter on Saboady.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Mihawk?!" Everyone sans Robin and Carrot shouted in surprise and slight horror/fright mix.

"The Warlord?!"

"That infamous pirate swordsman?!"

"The guy that almost cut you in half back at Baratie?!"

"The one that you dream of defeated and claiming the title of Strongest?!"

"How was it to live on an island with just your arch-foe, Zoro?" Robin asked calmly.

The rest of the crew pressed in.

"Did you get to fight him again?"

"Was he the one that gave you that scar?"

"Why didn't he kill you?"

Zoro glared at his crewmates that had gotten a little too close for his liking. They quickly backed off.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, interesting, yes, no, because." He quipped, not really wanting to talk about it.

The rest of the Strawhats obviously weren't pleased by this response.

"Tell us!" Luffy shouted, throwing his fists up. He was once again backed up by the rest of the crew. Zoro groaned.

"Fine. But a lot happened." He said as a disclaimer. In response, the rest of the crew huddled up, getting comfortable in the face of a potentially good story. He groaned internally.

"Okay, fine." He grumbled, thinking back to his time on the dark island. "When I woke up, I was covered in bandages…"

* * *

That's the first chapter. There will be short chapters full of nonsensical adventures with swords, baboons, and ghosts to follow. Review!


	5. Chapter 5

Slight Zoro x Kuina. Just a fluffy one shot from Zoro's past in the dojo. I don't particularly push this ship because they were like 8 and 10 when she died so I have a hard time seeing them as a couple. To me, kids don't really develop romantic feeling like that until they reach puberty. The only reason there's even a hint, is because technically, Kuina had been taking the first steps into puberty when she died.

 **Disclaimer** : I read that Oda works on a single chapter for a minimum of 6 days out of the week, potentially more with imagining it in the first place. And he wanted to draw manga so that he would have to do any real work. Live your dreams and all that. (It was first published July 19, 1997. That's almost 20 years of 'not doing any _real_ work.')

* * *

 **Demon Rice Balls**

"832."

The short-haired girl calmly watched as the green-haired boy collapsed at her feet, his two bokken's clattering a distance away. He panted heavily, sweat glistening as it dripped down his face.

"That's 832 times that you have challenged me, Roronoa Zoro. And 832 times that I have beat you." Kuina smirked somewhat evilly. "Face it. A weak crybaby like you can never defeat me."

Zoro groaned and fiercely wiped the tell-tale tears that pooled in his eyes. Still gasping for breath, he forced himself up, swaying slightly from the effort.

"One of… one of these… days…" He panted. "Next… time. …Eight-hundred… and thirty… three. I'll beat… you." Unable to support himself any more, he fell to his hands and knees. Suddenly his stomach growled loudly. His cheeks flushed even more in embarrassment.

Kuina scoffed and rolled her eyes, walking away to put her own bokken away. Zoro collapsed to the ground with another groan, his strength utterly spent.

"Next… time…" He muttered angrily.

* * *

An hour later, Zoro was kicked awake. He had fallen asleep on the ground where he had been defeated. It wasn't the first time.

Blearly, he blinked up at the owner of the limb. It was Kuina. He scowled and looked away, not bothering to move. His muscles had seized a little due to a lack of a proper cool down. He heard her sit down next to him.

"Here." He looked over.

She wasn't looking at him, her face turned away, but she was holding out a small plate. One the plate were several rice balls. Or at least, several lumpy things that were probably _supposed_ to be rice balls. They weren't in any distinguishable shape, and some even had more seaweed then rice.

Zoro's eyes widened in surprise. His stomach growled hungrily, not caring about the state of the proffered food in its desperation. He reached a still trembling limp over and did his best to grab one of the mounds. It started to crumble in his hand, so he quickly ate it, licking his fingers eagerly.

Although they were lacking in the looks department, they tasted just fine. At least, they tasted fine to his non-picky pallet. He sat up and took the whole plate, quickly scarfing down the rest. So intent as he was on getting every grain of rice into his system, he completely missed the look that Kuina was giving him.

She was blushing slightly, and a small smile grace her features as she watched her hard work being enjoyed so fervently.

When Zoro had literally licked the plate clean, he turned back to Kuina, who's expression was schooled in a cool indifference.

"Thanks!" He said happily. To this simple minded boy, even a bitter rivalry could be postponed in the face of a free meal.

Kuina's cheeks flushed again, and she quickly stood, trying to not let the younger boy see.

"Don't mention it." She mumbled, walking away. Just before she entered the dojo, she turned back to the boy who was licking the plate again, to get any grains of salt he might have missed the first time. She smirked when she caught his eye.

"If you can't defeat me on a full stomach, you have no hope on an empty one." She enjoyed his reddening face as his anger grew at the jab. "Of course," She continued. "You still have no chance either way."

She laughed and walked away, the angry shouts from the green-haired boy fading away.

Unseen by either, Koshino-sensei stood in the shadows, observing his only daughter's expression go from a smirk to a happy smile. A small smile of his own formed as he watched her positively skip away. He looked over at his strongest pupil as Zoro quickly stood up and snatched up his discarded bokken, no doubt going to go do some inhuman self-training until the next challenge.

The white plate sat on the steps of the dojo, a bright mark of peace between two rivaling friends.

* * *

"Oi, moss-head. Move your lazy butt. It's dinner time." Zoro, the infamous 'Pirate Hunter' of the Strawhat Pirates, blinked his one functioning eye. The shouts of his crewmates as they headed carefree into the galley punctuated the stiff ocean air. He stretched and yawned before climbing to his feet and following after them.

He had been napping on the grassy deck of their ship after an intense workout session. Nothing new there.

The galley was already a mess of bodies and noise (but not of food. They all knew the consequences for wasting even a single drop of Sanji's cooking). Zoro sat heavily at the only open spot and proceeded to smack Luffy's hands away and reached over to pull the nearest plate over to him.

He paused for a moment as he saw that the plate was full of rice balls, perfectly shaped and balanced, practically gleaming in their seaweed wraps.

"Is there a problem with my food, marimo?" Sanji's voice broke through Zoro's contemplation. He shook his head and grabbed several, filling his own plate before grabbing at another platter.

No one except the observant archeologist noticed the small smile that had a melancholy twinge to it, form on the resident swordsman's face.

Rice balls just happened to be his favorite food, is all.

* * *

Just a thought that popped into my head. Oda has said that rice balls (onigiris) are Zoro's favorite food which is funny because one of his attacks (arguably the most powerful) is the Demon Slash (oni giri). This is my take on why. Reviews make me happy!


	6. Chapter 6

It was going to only be a few pages but is now 10. How did that happen? Part one of who knows how many now. I'll add to this one randomly, just like the one about Zoro's two years training.

Hope you guys had a great 3-day weekend. I would have posted this during said weekend, but I traveled home. And now I'm behind on lots of homework. Solution? Ignore said homework and post a chapter. Yeah, I know, I'm totally running away from responsibility, but adulting is hard! Give me nice reviews to make me feel better. Maybe if it's really nice I'll let you choose a topic/plot for a chapter. (I would say the next one but I already have 12 chapters written and am working on a 13th. Maybe the 14th?)

 **Disclaimer** : It's past midnight right now. I have a feeling that if I did own OP I wouldn't be writing fanfiction till past midnight. Then again, knowing me, maybe I would.

 **The Strongest and The Weakest 1**

The Strawhat Pirates were sailing on the Grand Line, during one of their rare peaceful days. The weather was calm, the wind brisk, the sea devoid of any islands or ships. Brook was sitting against the mast, composing a new song for fun, Franky was fixing some detail on the railing, his precious ship having gathered a fair amount of wear and tear due to their hyperactive captain's infamous move 'gomu gomu no rocket'.

Robin was laying on a deck chair, reading a book. Chopper was in his own workshop, crushing herbs for medicine. Sanji was humming in the galley, making snacks for the females on the ship. Usopp was watering his pop greens, smacking away the plants that kept trying to wrap around his neck. Nami was working on her dream, drawing a map of the last island they had escaped – ahem – left. Zoro was in the gym, lifting weights that weighed more that the entire crew combined.

Luffy was on his special seat, staring out with wide-eyed at the sea, his straw-hat fluttering slightly in breeze.

Everyone was in their respective element. Each doing their own thing. Everyone silently working on their dreams. Peace. Silence. Tranquility.

But that's boring. So fate (or Luffy's luck [or curse] depending on who you were talking to) literally dropped a person on the grassy lawn of the deck. He was tall, close to Brook's height. He was thin and wiry, with long, straight, brown hair. His nose was like a short beak, and his feathered and colorful clothes topped with a matching hat furthered that image.

At first, no one noticed him. As mentioned before, everyone was in their own little world. The first people who noticed were the three haki users. All three perked up, glancing in the general direction of the new 'voice'. Brook noticed him because he was literally right in front of his eyes ("although I don't have eyes! Skull joke! Yohohoho!") The other members on deck noticed him eventually.

Luffy grinned and quickly jumped over to the newcomer.

"Hey Bird-guy! How'd you get here?"

The man flapped his arms. "I came with my friend-caw." He pointed up to a large bird that had similar feather patterns as the man on deck. "He takes me everywhere-caw."

By this point, the rest of the crew had gathered, to see what the commotion was. Nami and Chopper came out on deck along with Sanji just as Zoro dropped down from the observation room/gym.

"What are you doing here?" Sanji asked, taking a drag from his cigarette, one hand in his pocket.

"We were flying-caw, and we saw this cool ship-caw." Franky smiled at the compliment. "My friend was tired and wanted a break-caw. I also wanted a meal-caw." Indeed, the large bird had settled on top of the main mast.

Now, if this were anywhere else other than the New World on the Grand Line, on the most infamous pirate ship besides the four emperors themselves, this might be the end. They would make some small talk, offer some beverages and snacks, the guests would rest, and then they'd be on their separate ways probably to never see each other or even think of each other again. But this _was_ the New World on the Grand Line, on the most infamous pirate ship besides the four emperors themselves, therefore this wasn't the end.

As Sanji turned to head into the galley to make their newcomer a snack at Luffy's insistence, the bird-man reached for him. This might have been seen as nothing more than a strange but normal movement, had one these particular pirates not been very observant.

Faster than most could see, except perhaps Luffy and Sanji if he were facing the right way, Zoro's arm shot out and grabbed firmly onto bird-man's arm. The one-eyed glare he gave him would have been enough against most men. However, this man wasn't most men.

Sanji, noticing the intense killing aura suddenly behind him, turned around just as Zoro was somehow thrown against him. Surprised, Sanji was forced back a few steps before he stopped them both.

Instantly, the gathered crew members were on alert, getting into battle modes. Any man that could shake off Zoro like that was a dangerous foe.

"Oi, mosshead!" Sanji growled. "Get off me!"

Zoro looked stunned but Sanji's rough voice shook him out of his reverie. "Right." He said and made to stand on his own feet. But even as he did so, he found that he was inexplicably weakened and felt his leg give out at the sudden loss of strength. Out of instinct, Sanji caught him under his arms before he landed on the floor. The Strawhats gasped at his state.

"What did you do to Zoro, bird-guy?" Luffy shouted, his fists up, ready to fight.

"I told you-caw. I came here to eat-caw." The bird-man stood casually in the middle of the angry pirates as if they weren't on the verge of attacking him.

"Sanji was going to get you food!" Luffy said angrily. "And that doesn't explain what happened to Zoro!"

Robin caught on quickly. "What exactly do you eat, bird-san?" She asked, calmly, although those that knew her knew of the suspicion and anger that was in her eyes.

The man smiled. "Why, strength of course-caw."

There was a moment of stunned silence. Sanji had been able to roughly pull the swordsman up and get him to stand on his own feet, pointedly ignoring the dangerous sway in his stance.

"May I assume that you have some type of devil's fruit ability?" Brook asked, still gripping his cane-sword in preparation.

"Indeed." The man answered, nodding towards the skeleton, completely unfazed by his appearance. "I ate the meal-meal fruit. This allows me to eat any attribute I wish-caw. My personal preference is strength-caw."

"Give Zoro his strength back!" Usopp shouted, his slingshot loaded and aimed at the man's head.

"I can't-caw."

"Then we'll just have to beat it out of you!" Luffy said and stretched his arm back to throw one of his infamous punches. The man simply stood calmly, not even blinking as the arm shot forward.

"Gomu gomu no pistol!" The rubber fist made contact with the man's cheek but the result was definitely different than usual.

The fist was stopped in its tracks, the man unfazed, and it was _Zoro_ that was suddenly sent flying back, smacking hard against the wall behind him.

"Zoro!" The crew shouted. Chopper ran over to him with a worried expression.

"I'm fine." Zoro growled, brushing the doctor off. He wiped his mouth which was bleeding. A tell-tale mark of having just been punched on his cheek in the exact spot as would have been on the bird-man.

"What happened?" Luffy asked again, withdrawing his arm. "How come Zoro got hurt when I punched you?"

The man flapped his arms, although it appeared to be more of a characteristic tic rather than anything of meaning. "Because-caw. When I am eating, my meal and I are connected-caw."

"You mean," Nami said with wide eyes, her grip on her clima-tact slackening in shock. "That any damage we do to you, will manifest on Zoro?"

The man nodded. "Precisely-caw."

The crew all gasped in horror. How could they defeat him without hurting their own nakama? Once again, it was the ever observant Robin who caught the wording.

"'When you are eating'?" She asked, raising a brow. "You are still eating Zoro's strength."

"Exactly-caw." The man flapped. "Once I touch someone, I can eat their strength until they have no more. I don't even have to be holding them. Once I have finished, our connection breaks."

"You're eating _all_ of Zoro-bro's strength?" Franky asked. "Won't that kill him?"

"If he is weak-caw." The man flapped towards the giant cyborg. "Judging by his strength, however, I will probably just go until the time when he was the weakest, probably sometime in his early childhood, perhaps when he was just a baby."

"What!?" The crew shouted again.

"You're going to make him as weak as a baby?" Usopp gasped.

"Yes-caw." Was the surprisingly simple answer.

"So," Nami summarized. "You are eating Zoro until he's as weak as a baby, and we can't hit you until you do because it will hurt Zoro."

"Exactly-caw." There was an uneasy moment as the reality sunk in. The tense moment was broken however as there was a sudden flash of steel and the man stumbled back, his eyes wide.

Zoro stood in front of him, two of his swords out already. The tip of one of them had a red mark on it which corresponded to a sudden deep cut on the man's chest. Zoro grinned.

"They can't attack you, but it looks like I can." The bird-man seemed surprised that Zoro had actually attacked with the threat of hurting himself.

"You were trying to kill me!" The man squaked.

"Of course. You attacked first." Zoro frowned, ignoring the crews sudden cheering as the realized that Zoro could fight back.

"But- But how did you know that you wouldn't get cut instead?" The man asked, so flabbergasted that he forgot to add '-caw' to the end.

"I didn't." Zoro shrugged, pulling out his ever faithful Wado and placing it in his teeth. The man's eyes bugged out, his jaw dropping.

"You tried to kill me with the possibility of it killing you instead?!" He gasped. "Don't you care if you live?"

"I'm aiming to be the strongest swordsman in the world." Was the calm response. "I gave up my attachments to life when I claimed that dream."

The man couldn't do anything but stare as Zoro prepared to fight. He barely managed to dodge to the side as Zoro suddenly charge, blades swinging. Wado Ichimonji managed to slice him along the side though.

The man stumbled back, clutching the new wound to try and stem the blood flow.

"Get him!" The crew shouted.

"Kick bird-guy's butt!" Luffy cheered.

The man gritted his teeth as Zoro smirked at him. "Fine!" He spat. "If your strength isn't enough to deter you, then I'll take your ability to use swords!"

He lunged at Zoro his arm outstretched, but suddenly froze his eyes wide. His whole body trembled.

Zoro hadn't flinched at all when the man charged forward, but his smirk had turned into the deadliest glare, literally stopping the man in cold blood from the intensity and blood lust of it.

"My ability to use swords?" Zoro asked, his voice quiet and low, no more than a growl from a beast, for a beast-like aura was rising from him. "You dare to try and take my dream from me?" His voice had not changed but it was enough to cause a visible shudder to run down the man's spine. His mouth went dry and he heard his heart beating in his ears. He tried to speak, but his voice wasn't working.

Zoro took a slow step forward. It reverberated around the entire deck that somehow seemed to have been transported to the darkest midnight, the sun no longer in the darkened sky. Or maybe the bird-man was just seeing things.

He tried to take a step back but his body wouldn't respond, frozen where he stood. His eyes widened in fright as Zoro took another step forward. He tried leaning back, or at least dropping his still outstretched arm, but nothing was moving. Internally he was screaming but outwardly he could only watch in mute shock as Zoro stepped closer and closer.

"No one can take my dream from me." His voice was barely a whisper, a hiss that seemed to crawl into his ear like a snake and wrap itself tightly around his wildly beating heart, squeezing hard. The man could barely breathe, suddenly feeling like he was thousands of meters below the sea, buried under an immense pressure.

Suddenly Zoro was standing barely a centimeter from his outstretched fingertips. He raised his swords and all the man could do was watch as the came down with a flash.

There was a moment where time itself seemed to stand still, the man's breath caught in his throat. Then slowly, agonizingly, time started to move forward, and the bird man was suddenly thrown backward, blood spurting from the two deep cuts across his entire torso. He landed heavily on the deck, the (imagined?) darkness disappearing as the sun was suddenly shining again and he was aware of the rest of the Strawhats standing with grins at the outcome.

"Yeah Zoro!" Luffy shouted happily. "You kicked that bird-guy's butt!" Zoro grinned as he sheathed his swords.

"Of course I did." He said confidently. Then he suddenly pitched forward unconscious.

"Aah! Zoro!" The crew shouted running up to their fallen comrade.

"What's wrong Chopper?" Nami asked fearfully. "Did his attacks rebound onto him?"

Chopper was examining him with a professional eye before shaking his head. "Physically he's fine. I think this has to do with that guy's devil fruit."

"But Zoro-san defeated him." Brook said, looking over at the bleeding man. Robin was bent over him.

"He's still conscious." She announced.

"What?!"

Luffy quickly ran over to him and roughly lifted him by his torn and bloody shirt, shaking him hard. "Fix Zoro!" He demanded, a serious look in his eye.

The man gasped and coughed up blood. "I… can't." He choked out, coughing up more blood.

Furious, Luffy drew back his arm to punch the man into submission.

"Wait Luffy. I think what he's trying to say is that he actually can't. Isn't that right, bird-san?" The man nodded fearfully, eyeing the still raised fist. Luffy frowned at Robin.

"I don't get it. Is he still eating Zoro's strength?" Shakely, the man nodded his head. "Well stop it!" Luffy shook him harder, as if that would help.

"Bird-san, your ability won't let you stop 'eating' until the meal is over, will it?" Robin calmly asked, placing a reassuring hand on Luffy's shoulder. The man shook his head again. "I see. Will you be able to return his strength when this is over?" Practically in tears, the man nodded. Robin turned to address her captain. "Luffy, if I may, I suggest that since we can't do anything for now, why don't we simply lock him up until he is finished eating. Then I believe that the man will give back our swordsman's strength. Isn't that right, bird-san?"

The man's eyes widened at the feral look in Robin's eyes, even with her calm and politely smiling face. He nodded so hard and fast, he coughed up blood again.

"So we just have to wait?" Luffy asked. Robin nodded. "Got it." He lowered the man but didn't let go, instead deciding to drag him over to the rest of the crew. "Franky, make some kind of cage to hold him while we wait." Luffy ordered.

"OW! SUPER leave it to me!" Franky posed before heading off for some supplies.

"Chopper, make sure he and Zoro don't die before he gives him his strength back."

"Got it." Chopper agreed, turning to his heavy point and picking up Zoro carefully, and then grabbing the bird-man and dragging him over to the infirmary much like Luffy had.

"Sanji." Luffy turned to the blonde cook. "MEAT!" Sanji smirked.

"Got it, captain." Luffy grinned.

* * *

"AAAAH!" The crew jumped at the panicked shout from the infirmary before rushing to check on their nakama.

They burst in, weapons of all sorts ready. It was only 20 minutes after the fight, and after Chopper had quickly bandaged the bird-man, they had put him in the heavy metal cage Franky had whipped up and set him in one of the empty rooms. They had offered to let his bird stay with him, but with Chopper translating, they discovered that the bird actually was tired from flying and was content to sleep on top of their mast. Apparently he wasn't too concerned about his 'friend's' defeat.

"What's wrong?" Nami asked, a little breathless from her hurry to get there. "Is Zoro okay?"

Chopper was on the floor, no doubt fallen, pointing with wide eyes towards the bed he had put Zoro in 20 minutes ago. The curtain was half-drawn so they had to pull it open to see what terrified Chopper. They gasped at what they saw.

Zoro was lying in the bed, still unconscious although, based on the soft snores, it was from sleep rather than the devil fruit. He looked completely unharmed. In fact, he looked 'better' then he did before, in that he no longer had any scars. At all. Because instead of the 21-year-old man with the very noticeable scars all over, they were now looking down at a sleeping 5 or 6-year old. He had turned on his side and was curled up into a little ball, his hair about as long as it had been when they first met him and just as green. He was currently only wearing his shirt as his body had literally shrunk out of the rest. He was as oblivious to the rest of the crew as he normally was when asleep.

They stared. Everyone seemed at a loss for words. Finally, the shocked Sanji pulled himself together to enough to ask, "We should probably get that bird-guy here to explain this." The rest of the crew nodded mutely, Usopp and Franky leaving to collect him.

"He's…" Nami looked down at him and gulped.

"He's rather cute like this, no?" Robin said thoughtfully.

"…That is not how I ever expected to describe _Zoro_ of all people, but, yeah." Nami had to agree, tilting her head as if to see him from a different angle.

"He's missing his scars!" Luffy shouted in horror.

"That's really not the issue here!" Nami shouted angrily and smacked him hard. "He's like, 15 years younger now!"

"Oh yeah." Luffy said, as if just now realizing this. "He's pretty short." This earned him another punch from his navigator.

"I was so shocked my heart stopped. Not that I have one." Brook joked. They were all interrupted by another scream, this time coming from Usopp. They ran out to where Usopp and Franky had gone to get the bird-guy. They found them, standing in shock. The metal cage that they had placed in the middle of an empty room was empty. It was easy to see how the man had escaped as the bars were literally bent to create a hole.

"It appears that he did indeed eat all of Zoro's strength." Robin observed calmly. "I hope he hasn't disappeared for good, leaving us with a shrunken Zoro forever."

"Don't even say that!" Nami and Usopp shouted angrily.

"Aah!" Luffy shouted. "Where'd the bird-guy go?"

"Why are you so slow?" Nami groaned. "Obviously he escaped, you idiot!"

"We better SUPER find him." Franky said. They didn't waste any more time, instead choosing to run out to look for him. They ran out on deck, that being the obvious escape route.

"The bird's gone!" Nami shouted.

"There!" Usopp pointed towards the front. They saw a rapidly shrinking dot that was probably the bird-guy.

"I'll stop him!" Luffy shouted and threw his arm forward stretching. Suddenly Nami gasped.

"Wait!" For what she didn't have to say because suddenly the sky was dark with clouds and the wind picked up, making the waves extremely choppy. Rain suddenly was pouring down, drenching them all. A particularly large wave, crashed on deck. It wasn't enough to do any real damage, but it was enough to effect the devil fruit users long enough for Luffy to suddenly lose his moment and his arm to drop. He pulled it back to that he could grip onto the railing as the ship heaved. When he looked back, he could no longer see the bird-man.

"Don't worry Luffy!" Nami shouted over the storm.

"What do you mean, Sis?" Franky asked as the crew sprang into action to stabilize in the storm.

"I saw his log pose and the direction he was heading in!" She shouted in between shouted instructions for leaving the storm. "One was pointing the same place that we're going and it looked like that's where he's going too! If we hurry, we can catch him there!"

"Nami-swa~n's so beautiful when she's so smart!" Sanji sighed.

"Full speed ahead towards bird-guy!" Luffy shouted, pointed forward.

"Aye!" The crew shouted. With a quick Coup de Burst, they blasted their way out of the storm and towards the next island.

When they landed, Chopper suddenly threw the door open. "Everyone, quick!" Worried, they hurried over to him, once more entering the infirmary. Zoro's bed was empty.

"Where is he?" Usopp asked.

"I don't know." Chopper said fearfully. I was locking my supplies down for when we landed and when I checked on him again, he was gone!"

"Quick!" Nami shouted. "Find him! We don't know the full extent of what this shrinking will affect!"

"There's no need, Nami." Robin smiled.

"What do you mean, Robin-san?" Brook asked and probably would have raised an eyebrow if he had any.

"He's not far. He was probably just startled and confused when he woke up." She walked forward towards an empty and bed and bent down, looking underneath. "Don't worry, little Zoro-kun." She said. The crew leaned forward to try and see underneath. "It's safe now. You can come out."

There was a long pause as Robin simply smiled at the boy they couldn't see, one of her hands outstretched in a peace offering. A small hand suddenly appeared from under the bed, almost covered in the short-sleeved white shirt that Zoro happened to have been wearing that day as opposed to his green… thing. It tentatively grasped Robin's hand, encouraged by her kind smile. She helped the boy out, his green-topped head appearing next, quickly followed by the miniature version of the rest of him.

He didn't notice the rest of the crew at first, looking up at Robin with wide eyes and a slightly gawking expression. When he stood up straight, the shirt that had once been on the tight side to the grown-up Zoro, revealed itself to be much too big for the toddler Zoro, appearing more like a child that was wearing his father's shirt than anything.

The tenderhearted of the crew tried not to squeal at the cuteness factor that was being displayed by their usually most stoic of all members.

"He's so tiny." Usopp observed. At the noise, the mini-Zoro looked over and spotted the rest of the crew that was staring at him almost expectantly. They were all surprised as Zoro's eyes suddenly widened in fear and he made to dive back under the bed. He was prevented since Robing was still holding onto his hand but he tugged at it fearfully, his breathing quickened.

"Let- go!" He struggled and the crew had to cover their smiles at the child-like voice that came from the usually deep-voiced man.

"Don't worry, Zoro-kun." Robin said soothingly. "You are safe here. We're your friends." At this proclamation, Zoro did actually stop struggling. He looked up at Robin with wide eyes and a hopeful expression.

"Safe?" He asked. Robin smiled wider and nodded. "No… no bad guy?" Confused but not letting it show, Robin replied, "No, no bad guy. Just your friends, Zoro-kun." Zoro glanced back at the still staring crew. In particular, the large part-man, part-machine. He shuffled closer to Robin and said in what he thought was a whisper but was actually heard by everyone.

"Even the big one?" He asked fearfully. Robin managed to stifle her laugh.

"Even the big one. His name is Franky." When she spoke his name, Zoro visible relaxed.

"Franky." He said with a relieved sigh. "Not Kaido. Okay."

"Kaidou?" Luffy asked, tilting his head in confusion. "He's nothing like Kaido. Kaido's a hundred times bigger. You should know." Nami punched his head.

"Idiot!" She hissed. "Obviously he doesn't remember anything. He probably can only remember the first 5 or so years of his life right now."

"You mean he doesn't remember us?" Luffy asked with a gasp.

"Probably not." Sanji shook his head. "That idiot marimo is always causing trouble.

They had not been as quiet as they probably should have been for the miniaturized Zoro suddenly tilted his own head in return. "Mar-mo?" He asked, the unfamiliar word falling out of his mouth awkwardly. "what's a 'mar-mo'?" Sanji blinked. Now here was a situation that he never thought would happen. Robin came to his rescue.

"Marimo." She clarified. "It's Sanji's nickname for one of our nakama. It means 'moss ball'." Zoro frowned.

"Why do you call your friend 'moss ball'?" He asked in all seriousness. The crew snickered both at Zoro's innocence and Sanji's flustered state.

"Uh, because…" He stammered. "It's just…" He was obviously trying to avoid the actual reason.

"It's because his hair is green." Luffy cut in. He was smacked by Nami and Usopp for his insensitivity.

"Green… hair?" Zoro repeated slowly, a look of concentration on his face. Suddenly his face brightened. "Oh! So you're friends with Otou-sama!" He smiled up at Sanji. Sanji was lost at what to do.

"…yeah…" he said slowly. Zoro beamed.

"So you are the friend that he sent me to? To keep me hidden?" The crew stared blankly at him. Sanji blinked, taken aback.

"…yes?" He said questioningly. Zoro sighed in relief again.

"That means we don't have to run and hide anymore?" He asked, his body relaxing.

"…I guess not?" Sanji shrugged, thoroughly confused by the entire conversation.

"Are you running from Kaido?" Nami asked, taking hints from his earlier mention.

Zoro frowned and nodded. "Kaido attacked our island. He released a big gas bomb." He visualized this by throwing his arms out wide. "If you got too close to it, you would get really sick. People kept getting sicker and sicker and they started to die." Zoro's face was shadowed by the memory. "Then there was a lot of screaming. I didn't know what was happening. Otou-sama gave me to Kisuke-san to run away so that I would be safe." Suddenly Zoro's head shot up and he tensed. "Kisuke-san!" He shouted in realization. "Where is he?"

"He's safe too. He had an important errand to take care of. He'll meet up with us later." Robin calmly lied. Zoro relaxed again.

"That's good." He nodded but suddenly his nods started to get sleepy, his small body swaying. Robin was quick to pick him up. She raised a brow as he instantly cuddled into her body, his eyes fluttering closed, a huge yawn escaping.

"He's been through a lot in a very short amount of time." Chopper the doctor spoke up. "It's best if he got some sleep now. We can talk about this some more in another room while he's sleeping." The small reindeer hybrid pushed the rest of the crew out, especially the suddenly fuming Sanji who was furious at Zoro's position in Robin's arms.

Robin tucked him into bed, placing the rest of his too big clothes at the foot of the bed. Zoro had already fallen asleep in the few seconds and Robin had to smile at that. Apparently some things don't change with age.

* * *

Okay, this is turning into a monster so I'll just continue it later. Review if you like. (This was really supposed to be a short little one-shot but for some reason it just kept getting longer and longer.) Zoro's backstory is just a theory I have based on some of the recent chapters. We'll see. I feel like we'll have a Zoro arc after this Sanji arc. Or at least I hope we do.


	7. Chapter 7

Sort of choppy, senseless, plotless. A random mutated plot bunny that hopped in my head.

 **Disclaimer** : Zoro is mine! …in my head.

 **Older Mate**

"So Luffy, shall we test the mettle of your crew?" Shanks grinned. Luffy's grin matched.

"Sure! There's no way they'll lose to any of you guys!" He laughed confidently.

"You're on!" Shanks replied. "Mano y mano! Each person will fight one from my crew. I'll even be generous and let them fight someone in their own field."

"Shishishishi! And then I'll fight you and show that punch that's like a pistol!"

There was a cheer as both crews got ready for the friendly competition.

"You have 9 crew mates so nine of my crew will fight. Captain to captain will be last so we'll have our first mates be just before us." Shanks said.

Suddenly the StrawHats paused. Seeing their confusion, Shanks asked, "What's wrong?"

"'First mate'?" Luffy asked, tilting his head in his universal sign of ignorance. "Who's that?"

"Huh?" Shanks tilted his own head in confusion. "You know. The guy that's in charge when you're not there."

"Oh!" He smacked his fist against his palm in realization. "Nami!"

"NO WAY!" Nami shouted angrily, smacking him hard with her assembled clima-tact. "I'm the navigator! There's no way I'm fighting Red-Hair's first mate!"

"But Nami, he said-" Luffy protested, ignoring the goose-egg forming.

"That's not what he meant!" She shouted angrily back. Luffy turned back to the stunned Shanks who had been watching the display.

"Yeah, Nami is our navigator. Who's our 'first mate'?" He asked in all seriousness.

Shanks blinked. "…eeh," He said elegantly. "How should I know?" He asked annoyed. "It's your crew! Don't you have one?"

"Nope!"

This statement was met with shock to the Red-Haired Pirates. It was Shank's first mate who spoke up next.

"I think I can explain, captain." He said with a small smile. Shank's look of desperation for an explanation was all the permission he needed. "Knowing Luffy, I don't think he's ever really considered rank among his crew. Why bother when there are only Nine?" The Yonkou's crew nodded in understanding, some of them snickering as they recalled their earlier impressions of Luffy.

"Luffy." Beckman addressed the other captain. "Who do you trust the most?" If anything this further confused the boy.

"All of them." He said simply with a small shrug. Several of his crew members blushed and waved off his compliment happily.

Benn smiled. "Let's try something else. Who's the strongest, besides you?"

Expecting a simple answer, they were slightly surprised at the look of concentration on the young man's face.

"…What _exactly_ do you mean by 'strongest'?" He asked slowly.

Benn raised a brow. "I…" He paused and thought for a minute. Finally smiled. "I guess I don't actually know. How about this." He laughed a little at how difficult this was getting. "Since I'm the first mate, you pick someone that you think could beat me. Then we'll just have the other's match up with people that fight like them."

Luffy's expression brightened at this solution. "Gotcha!" He grinned and without a single hesitation he shouted back, "Zoro! You'll take this guy!" He pointed towards Beckman.

The green-haired swordsman smirked at the compliment. "Got it." He grinned, allowing a bit of his intense blood-lust to leak out.

* * *

The battles were legendary. Usopp faced off against his father and won because of his ability to use trick shots, not just simple bullets.

Nami faced their navigator and thoroughly smashed him not only with her ability to predict the weather, but also the fact that she could control it.

Franky and their shipwright's battle was the most fun for all the boys because they got to play with their inventions afterwards. Franky's was cooler and therefore won.

Sanji's lunch was indisputably better. He didn't even physically fight.

Chopper's battle with their doctor was surprisingly physical. In the end, Chopper just went monster point and smacked him unconscious. He watched unmoving from the sidelines for the next few minutes.

Robin's battle was against another devil fruit user since they didn't actually have an archeologist, and she won within seconds.

Brook and their main musician had a rock battle, Brook winning splendidly.

Zoro's battle took longer but was definitely enjoyable. By the end, both were wounded but Zoro's three-sword style won out. He wasn't aiming to be the best for nothing.

Luffy's and Shank's match was actually held on the other side of the island. Knowing how much destruction they would cause, both crews put them as far away from the campsite and ships as possible. It was also the longest. It caused literal earthquakes but after the first 6 hours, the crews left them to enjoy food and rest. The battle continued all night.

Finally, just as the sun was peeking over the horizon, Luffy did it.

* * *

"So much for a friendly competition." Zoro muttered as he picked up his unconscious captain and slung him unceremoniously over his shoulder. Beckman did the same for his own sleeping captain.

"At least they had fun." He smiled. "Luffy's really grown."

Zoro smirked. "What did you expect? He's going to become the pirate king."

* * *

When both captains finally woke up, the party was legendary. Since all of the animals had fled away from the warring captains, the crews were able to hunt enough meat to satisfy even Luffy's and Shank's appetite combined. Which considering that it became another competition, was saying something. (Luffy won again. His ability to literally stretch out his stomach isn't to be trifled with.)

The day after the party, they Strawhats decided to set sail. They were nearing Raftel and didn't want to stop.

"I'm glad we got to meet again, Luffy." Shanks stood before Luffy, the rest of the Strawhats loading the _Thousand Sunny_. "I think you've proven that you are king material."

"Of course!" Luffy grinned. Shanks laughed at his confidence but wasn't surprised. This was Luffy after all.

"I'll see you again later, King. You can give me that hat back when you've taken your crown."

They both grinned and Luffy put a fond hand on it. "You got it!"

As they were pulling away from the island, Shanks waved up to Luffy. "With a first mate and a crew like that, it's no wonder you've made it this far."

Their infamous Coup de Burst started to charge up. Luffy tilted his head in confusion. "But, I don't have a first mate. Didn't we already establish that?" The roar of the cannon was making Shanks' words almost impossible to hear.

"Eh? Isn't Zoro?"

"What?" Luffy shouted back. "He's not my first mate! He's my swordsman!"

"But-" Shanks was cut off as the cannon suddenly exploded and the _Thousand Sunny_ became nothing more than a rapidly shrinking dot in the sky.

Shanks turned to his first mate. "-I thought Zoro-"

"Captain." Beckman laughed and placed a hand on his shoulder. "This is Luffy we're talking about. Don't try to use logic."

* * *

Plotless and honestly, not my best work. My idea for this was choppy at best so getting it down in print was difficult. Basically, I wanted to address the idea of Zoro being the first mate to everyone else, but also that no one in the Strawhats even think of him like that. He might be one of the more mature members and the oldest (timeline wise not age wise) but Luffy recruited him to be his Swordsman, just like Usopp is his Sniper and Nami his Navigator and so on. I get the feeling that with such a family like crew, a first mate position is non-existent. Kind of like just because the eldest brother is the unofficial parent when the parents are gone, it doesn't make him a 'vice-parent' or whatever. That's Zoro in my head. The eldest brother. I might make a one-shot about that idea later.


	8. Chapter 8

Kind of angsty, potential character death. Maybe. I might write a sequel. We'll see. Focused on Usopp instead of Zoro.

 **Disclaimer** : I never would have been able to create the entire world of OP. I'm not that good.

* * *

 **Dreams**

He was captured. Something that they thought would never happen. But the World Government plays dirty. With the threat of the entire Syrup Village on the line, he was forced to put down his slingshot. He couldn't risk their lives just so he could be free.

They took him away immediately, an entire battleship set sail before the rest of the crew even knew what happened. To prevent them from breaking him out. They shouldn't have worried. They were holding his heart hostage. Monsters.

They didn't put him in Impel Down. That had proved ineffective against just one of the Strawhats. Who knows what damage they would inflict if the whole crew invaded. Instead they kept him on various heavily guarded battleships, carrying at least one Vice-Admiral or higher at all times. They were constantly on the move.

Word got out. God Usopp was captured and the Strawhats were out for blood. They were actively targeting the marines now, any ships they saw in passing. There might have been survivors but they had to be picked up since they completely tore apart each ship to look for him.

The Strawhat allies were involved as well, passing any and all information, secretly infiltrating the Marines to find out his location and status. Even the revolutionary army was involved. This was bigger than when Ace was captured.

Finally, his execution date was set. The new Marine Headquarters located in the New World. The Marines were gearing up for another war to rival the War of the Best. The revolutionary army was rumored to be joining them.

* * *

The day arrived. Surprisingly good weather. A day where, had he not been shackled and slowly led to the execution stand, he would have quite enjoyed it. He was silent as they led him out. Also surprising. They expected him to be cowering and telling lies and excuses and begging. Something. Crying. Shouting. Cursing. _Anything_.

But he was calm. As calm as the weather. He was kind of surprised himself. He thought that he would feel more (more terror if anything.) He knew the results of the War of the Best. Ace had died, regardless of their efforts. He honestly didn't expect to make it out alive. This was his final moment.

He had to squint when he suddenly came out into the sunlight. He was on a tall platform, and the Marines were displayed out below him, facing towards the sea. Waiting. He smiled. There were quite a few marines. He saw several officers closer to his location, many he knew by name. Yeah, they were expecting the Strawhats. Not that even that was enough.

He didn't expect to survive but he did know that his crew would completely destroy everyone here. More than the War of the Best. Everyone would be coming. Luffy alone would probably destroy about one third. Zoro another third with Sanji taking the last third.

His laugh at his imagination startled the officers that were leading him to the block. They were confused at how a condemned man could laugh.

Suddenly, there was a noise and a marine called out "Enemy ship spotted!" In the air, and rapidly approaching, was the _Thousand_ _Sunny_. The marines murmured as the ship flew. Some apparently hadn't believed the rumors that the ship could fly. Some laughed that Strawhat was coming in from the sky again, just like last time.

His own smile was bitter-sweet. He had never seen the ship fly from the outside before, usually being one of the members riding it. It really was a sight to behold.

Cannons started to fire as it came into range. Of course, none hit. They landed with a deafening crash, a wave washing ashore. Before the ship had settled, they all jumped out. He had to grin. They looked so cool!

There was a moments pause as the Marines waited to see if there were any unexpected surprises. Of course there were. These were the Strawhats.

"Usooooopp!" Luffy shouted, his voice reverberating around the whole base. "We're coming to rescue you! So don't die! Captain's orders!"

Usopp threw back his head and laughed. "Got it, captain!" He shouted back with a grin. Not that he expected to survive. But hey, he _was_ a world class liar.

The Strawhats charged. The marines fought but were obviously outmatched skill wise. Luffy knocked out a lot of weaker ones with his haki, as did Zoro. (His discovery of that particular skill was used as a point of bragging against Sanji.)

Then the allies appeared, from everywhere, it seemed. The battle was in full swing. Even the officers joined in right away, not wanting to give them a chance.

While they were battling, the Fleet Admiral spoke into a magnifying den den mushi. He listed out all of his crimes. He had to admit, it was a rather impressive list. They even added the list of lying to officials on it. He had to grin at that. He was officially a liar now.

Ignoring the battle raging on below, the Fleet Admiral ordered them to proceed with the execution. The blades were held at the ready. He could feel the cold metal against the back of his neck, through his curls. They would end up cutting his hair along with his neck. Strange the things you think of when you're about to die.

As the blades were lifted in order to get momentum and the noise increased in protest, he looked out, spotting all of his nakama engaged in vicious battle. He smiled. They were all there. For him.

He took a deep breath and shouted over the din his final words.

"I AM USOPP, THE GREAT WARRIOR OF THE SEVEN SEAS!"

* * *

Came to my mind because I am rereading OP and this is what Usopp says he wants his final words to be in chapter 119 page 3 (on Little Garden). He gets to fulfill his dream.


	9. Chapter 9

This isn't an action packed story by any means. Just a story about an old man in the woods telling stories to a bunch of kids.

 **Disclaimer** : Nope

* * *

 **Retired**

"Charlie, you're it!" There were playful screams and shouts as the brown-haired boy, Charlie, started to chase after his friends, laughing.

The weather was calm, the sun bright in the sky. The autumn island was enjoying their mid-summer-autumn weather. The wind rustled the green leaves, causing drying laundry to flutter on its line. Because it was such a good day, many people were out, going about their errands, or socializing with their neighbors.

The town wasn't particularly huge, but it was decent sized. They were fairly modern, a good tourist spot due to their calm weather and lack of any conflict. The capitol city was some kilometers away from the village, far enough away that the political issues rarely affected the town.

"Don't wander off too far!" One of the boy's mother called. They shouted in affirmation but almost immediately veered off, heading deeper into the forest that lay to the east of the town.

Laughing and shouting, their game of tag became a game of adventure, taking on the roles of various infamous pirates and marines.

"I'm the Pirate King, Strawhat Luffy!" A black haired boy shouted, brandishing a stick like a sword.

"Then I'm his arch-foe, Admiral Smoker!" His friend shouted back, getting his own stick. "Stop in the name of justice!"

Roles were claimed, all of the Pirate King's crew being taken. Charlie was able to claim Beast Hunter Zoro, Strawhat's vice-captain and the Strongest Swordsman in the World. He was Charlie's favorite. He put three sword-like sticks in his belt, to imitate the infamous three-sword style Beast Hunter had created.

The forest became the sea, and trees and bushes became enemies to fight or other ships. They ended up going deeper and deeper in the forest without realizing, running from marines and pirates alike.

Suddenly, 'Strawhat Luffy' lowered his 'sword' and looked around at the unfamiliar and surprisingly dark section of forest they were in. "Guys?" He called out, catching their attention. "Where are we?"

The other boys lowered their weapons and looked around as well. "We better head back." A blond said nervously. "Our parents will be worried."

"Yeah." They agreed. They waited for a moment to see which one would start moving first and therefore point them in the right direction. No one moved. Charlie swallowed.

"L-let's go, guys." He stuttered, trying to draw some type of courage from the depths of his being. It wasn't working. He picked a direction he thought they had come from and started forward, the rest of his friends following after. Within five minutes of making their way through the bush, Charlie had to admit that he had no idea where he was or how to get home.

The forest seemed to get darker and thicker, sudden noises startling the boys at every turn.

"I think-" What Charlie thought was never found out because at that moment, they all froze in fear. They could hear what sounded like footsteps making its way through the forest, getting steadily louder and louder.

Unconsciously, they huddled together, staring terrified towards the sound. Some started to cry.

The steps approached, louder and louder, till they almost couldn't hear them because their hearts were beating fiercely in their ears. A large shadow suddenly loomed out of the darkness and the boys screamed in fright.

"Oi, shut up. You're disturbing the animals." The deep rough voice effectively shut everyone up. In front of them stood an old man, with scars and graying hair. The light filtering through the treetops gave him a greenish tinge. It didn't help that he was wearing green and a belly wrap that old people wore.

In his large and calloused hands, he was carrying several chopped logs. He looked kind of like an old, crazy, mountain man, his arms beefy in a terrifying way.

"What are you brats doing way out here? Where are you from?" He growled. They couldn't tell whether the growl was a natural part of his voice or if he was beast like and angry at them for disturbing them.

A boy behind Charlie nudged him nervously. He gulped. "We- uh-" He stuttered. The man lifted an eyebrow, the one over his functioning eye. The other was sealed shut with a scar.

"You kids lost or something?" He interrupted. They all nodded emphatically. He sighed and shifted his burden a little. "Well don't look to me for directions. I've got no idea where you even came from, much less how to get there. I'm sure if you keep walking, you'll get home eventually. Or die. Either one." He shrugged unconcerned. The boys were very much concerned.

He brushed past the boys and walked on, not looking back at them. They saw a large and deadly looking axe swing dangerously from his hip. Once again, it was up to Charlie to encourage them forward. They trotted after the old man. He ignored them but must have known they were there.

A few minutes later, they were let out into a clearing, the sun shining brightly through. In the middle of the clearing was a small modest house. The area around it was a well-tended to garden. The man deposited his stack of chopped wood on top of more chopped wood. He brushed himself off and looked back at the children who froze when his eye fell on them.

"Going to follow me into my house?" He asked. They looked terrified, like he was going to chop them up with his axe for treading on his land. He snorted and walked away. "I'm sure your parents will come searching eventually. While we wait, you boys can help me with some of my chores."

Too scared to protest, he directed the boys through various chores, from pulling up buckets of water from the well at the edge of the clearing to weeding his garden, to helping him chop the logs to more manageable sizes. He didn't actually help them, simply directing them to do it instead while he sat on a wooden chair on his small porch.

* * *

The sun was getting low in the sky, the beginnings of the reds and golds of the sunset starting to appear.

"Why are we doing this?" One of the boys finally asked, his growling stomach indicating the late hour. "We don't even know this Ojii-san."

"He's not even watching anymore!" Another noticed. Indeed, the wooden chair was empty and smoke was coming from the chimney. The boys' stomachs growled as they smelled cooking meat emanating from the house.

"Let's just go." A boy with glasses said, wiping the sweat from his brow. "He won't notice."

"But we don't know where the village is." Another countered.

Their conversation was interrupted by the door to the cabin being thrown open, the old man standing in its frame. "Dinner." He called and quickly turned around and went back inside. After a quick glance at each other, they dropped their various tools and rushed over to the door, fighting to get in first.

The cabin was small, only two rooms and what looked like a small bathroom. The second room was probably the bedroom. The door was shut tight. The main room was the kitchen and living room and probably work room all in one. There were a few chairs, wooden and cushioned, but not enough for everyone to have their own. The table was small and was completely filled with cooked mean and veggies. It was also not big enough to hold them all.

After they had filled their plates, they all found a place to sit, some on the floor, and dug in.

"Thanks Ojii-san!" Charlie cried happily, his mouth full. "This tastes great!" The man in question had gotten his own plate and was sitting in a comfortable looking chair near the fireplace. He smirked.

"Thanks." He grunted. "A stupid perverted cook I knew made sure I knew how to cook my own meals before I came to live here. Charlie was the only that thought the statement a little odd, the rest too preoccupied with getting as much food in their mouth's as possible.

"What's your name, Ojii-san?" Charlie asked, an attempt to be polite to this surprisingly kind man, even though he looked kind of scary.

"I've been called many things." Was the gruff reply. Charlie blushed at the obvious dismissal.

"How come you live all by yourself way out in the middle of nowhere?" His friend asked, having finished the majority of his meal completed.

"Because _usually_ I'm left alone." He glared at the boys that formed a misshapen half-circle around his chair. They all quailed at the ferocious look. They silently agreed that no matter how old this guy may look, he was as dangerous as a wild beast.

"Sorry for barging in on you, Ojii-san." Charlie apologized for them. "We didn't mean to. We actually didn't even know anyone lived out here."

The man huffed but said nothing, just turned back to his own plate. There was an awkward silence as everyone ate, but eventually they relaxed enough to start talking to each other, eventually laughing and joking around with each other. The old man said nothing to any of them, just silently taking bite after bite.

"…But you always get to be Strawhat!" A whining voice spoke over the rest. "Next time _I_ want to be him!"

"I get to be the Pirate King because I'm the biggest and strongest and smartest!" Was the petulant reply. Suddenly the old man let out a bark of laughter. They quieted, startled. He grinned in amusement.

"If those are your qualifications, than there's no _way_ you're anything like him!" He chortled.

Embarrassed, the boy flushed angrily. "Nuh-uh! He was the Pirate King! And only the strongest can be the Pirate King."

"Oh sure." The man shrugged. "He was definitely the strongest. But biggest? _Smartest_?" He snorted. "Not even. He was one of the shortest. And _definitely_ the dumbest. He was closer related to monkeys than humans."

"No way!" Another kid shouted. "How could someone so dumb take down the entire World Government?" He said this as though this was a good enough argument.

"It was _because_ he was so dumb that he was able to do that. Tell me, is there anyone with any modicum of intelligence that would, in their right mind, take on the largest organization that ever existed?" This statement caused the boys to ponder on their perceived notion of the former Pirate King.

"…Did you know him, Ojiisan?" Charlie asked quietly. The boys all tensed in anticipation. The man himself tilted his head in thought.

"Yeah. I knew him." He could see the stars in the kids' eyes and had to smother an amused grin. He apparently was 10 times cooler in their minds.

"What was he like?"

"How did you meet him?"

"Did you ever fight against him?"

"Did you know the rest of the crew too?"

He raised a hand to still the onslaught of questions. They stilled but he could feel their quivering anticipation. He sighed. They weren't going to leave him alone until he told them.

"What was he like?" He mused, getting comfortable while he thought. "…Well, he was an idiot. Undisputed. His idiocy was almost staggering. He never thought anything through. If he did, he was in danger of breaking his brain. He was pure instinct. And his instinct was pretty good." He had a soft smile as he remembered some of the infamous exploits of the Pirate King and his crew.

"But strong, right?" They asked excitedly. He nodded solemnly.

"Oh yeah, he was strong. His punch was worse than a gunshot. He felled many a man in single punch. He even took down god."

"Eh?" He waved their question away. "That will take too long to tell." They protested but instantly shut up with a single look from him.

"…How did you meet?" A boy asked again. "Were you a pirate too?"

"First off, people don't stop being a pirate. Once a pirate, always a pirate." He clarified. "Second, I wasn't a pirate at the time. I was actually more of a bounty hunter. Sort of." He thought back to his 'humble' beginnings.

"Were you after his head?" The old man snorted.

"No. When I met him, he didn't have a bounty. He didn't even have a crew. It was just him and a dinky little sailboat. He just sort of floated around the sea looking for people to recruit. He didn't even have a proper Jolly Roger. No one had ever heard of him before."

"Did you fight him? Because you were a bounty hunter and he was a pirate?"

"No. I mean, I did end up fighting him. Much later. But that was because of a stupid misunderstanding." He snorted ruefully at the memory. "Idiot."

"Did he already have his straw-hat?"

"Yeah. He got that thing when he was just a kid." The man nodded.

"From the Yonkou, Red-Haired Shanks, right?" The boy shifted closer to try and hear the words better. The man shrugged.

"Yeah, but I didn't find out about that until much later. All I knew was that it was his treasure. Heaven couldn't even help the man that attacked it."

"Did you ever go after his head, when he finally got a bounty?"

"Huh?" The man asked confused. "'Course not."

"Why not? Is it because he was too strong for you?"

"NO!" He shouted angrily, peeved at the thought of anyone being too strong for him. "When we met, I stopped being a bounty hunter. I became a pirate instead."

"You were a pirate, Ojiisan?" More stars glittered in amazement.

"I told you, a man never stops being a pirate!" He shouted. Apparently these kids were too comfortable with him because even his raised voice didn't deter him.

"What about the rest of the crew? Did you ever meet them?" Charlie asked. "What about Beast Hunter Zoro?"

The man raised a brow. "I met them. I knew them all."

"Did you ever see any of them fight?"

"Oh yeah." The man grinned. "Lots of people have seen them fight. It was pretty much all they did. With marines, pirates, politicians, kings, monsters, even zombies." He paused for a moment thinking. "Giants and dinosaurs and mermen and fishmen and giant beasts. You name it, they've probably fought at least once with them."

"You said you fought him right?" The boy with glasses asked. "Did you fight all of them?"

"Not really. I fought Luffy. The Love-Cook. The Sea Witch, sort of. Franky." He counted off on his fingers. "I've sparred with Brook. Not a real fight." He clarified.

"Woah." They gasped. "You fought so many of them and lived? You must be really strong." This seemed to annoy the man.

"Of course I lived! Most of those battles weren't even real ones. Just arguments and the like."

Charlie frowned in thought. What kind of pirate would casually argue and fight with the Strawhats? He was about to ask when another boy asked, "Did you ever fight Beast Hunter?" His head shot up. He had always admired that Strawhat. It was said that he was the only one of the Strawhats that could rival the King in terms of brute strength.

"No." He answered monosyllabically. Charlie deflated but took a breath.

"But, you knew him?" He asked timidly. "What was he like?"

The man tilted his head, considering both Charlie and his question. Finally, he spoke.

"Yeah, I knew him. What was he like?" He smirked. "I'm probably not the right person to ask."

Before they could ask why, a feminine voice sounded from outside, calling for the house's owner.

"Ojii-san! Sir! Have you seen my boy?" The man stood up with a soft groan.

"Looks like story time is over. Get out and go home, you bunch of brats." Reluctantly they also stood and poured out of the small house into the arms of their worried parents. Charlie was the last one out.

"Ojii-san." He said. The man grunted, not looking at him as he picked up the plates left behind. "You never told us your name."

"No I didn't."

"Is it because you used to be- I mean" He stammered "Because you _are_ a pirate?"

The man grinned. "It _is_ hard to relax when the people keep bothering you." Was all the reply he got. Charlie smiled and ran out to his mom you scolded him for being out so late and so far.

He turned back as they walked away and saw into a lit window. It was the room that had been closed off. He saw a bed, and dresser with picture frames. He was too far away to see what was in them. But what he did see, were three sheathed katanas, hanging horizontally on the wall, the top sword in a beautiful white sheath.

* * *

Just a thought. I made it pretty obvious from the beginning I think who he was, but this was set about 50 years after Luffy took down the World Government. Which means he's over 60 years old. People have short memories.


	10. Chapter 10

Just a little nothing. A short little moment during the Strawhats' adventures. Zoro is a big softy and you all know it.

Also, sorry this one took so long to update. These past two weeks were a little crazy with some personal stuff. :P For someone who doesn't have a life, it sure has a lot of drama.

 **Disclaimer** : You know, maybe I just didn't really read the terms and conditions well, but I don't remember them actually telling us to put a disclaimer on every chapter. Or even on stories at all. Am I wrong?

* * *

 **Stray-ed**

(The title is not a typo)

He was not lost. He's never lost. Things just keep moving around. Like the port. It was supposed to be on the East side of the island. They were just getting supplies and the like then meeting back up on the ship. Apparently it would only take about half a day for the log pose to collect enough logs. Just in and out.

Zoro had decided to see if they had any good katana care-kits as his own supply was getting a little low. He eventually found one and as luck would have it, the guy was nice enough to give him a kit for free. Probably because he took care of those weird looking guys in the metal armor. Took half a second to slice through the armor. Cheap stuff.

Not he was trying to find the port. But apparently this was a strange island with a moving port because he was positive he went East but instead of the ocean, he ended up in front of a huge wall that separated the town from the castle that was big enough to be its own village.

He glared at the wall as if it had personally offended him. Annoyed, and with clouds gathering that even he could tell meant rain, he turned to try going East again. And stopped.

He heard a sound just to his left. There was a small box, probably an old shoe box or something, sitting right up next to the stone wall. An old hand towel was wadded up inside of it. As he watched, the towel shifted and the sound came again. A small kitten, with what appeared to be black strips on a blueish fur, peeked its head out of the towel.

It caught Zoro's eye and meowed. Zoro froze. _Crap_. Annoyed with how much effort it took, he forced his head to the side in an attempt to walk away.

He could literally feel the pitiful eyes boring into his skull, accusatory for leaving an already abandoned kitten in a box when it was going to rain.

"Ugh." He groaned, straightening his posture and resolutely stepping forward.

And somehow standing in front of the kitten-bearing box.

He groaned again. He could have sworn the eyes on that thing literally grew 5 centimeters while he stood there. They stared up at him, watery and innocent.

 _Curse it all to Davy Jones' Effin' Locker and back_.

* * *

If any pirate ship other than the Strawhats', they might have been able to land (secretly of course), buy supplies (or pillage depending on their temperament), and been back sailing in half a day, as soon as the log pose set.

But this _was_ the Strawhats, and therefore they somehow got involved in _another_ civil war, of a sort. At least, they were sort of recruited by a very nice yet oppressed and abused family to get rid of the corrupt king and his closest followers. The family didn't technically want a _war_ per se, but when the corrupt, selfish, lazy, and lecherous king took their 16-year-old daughter to be his 'wife' number 57, they had cried and begged Luffy to bring her back.

And Luffy being Luffy agreed. After all, the girl had given them meat.

Thus ensued a full on storming of the castle, Luffy style. Which meant that he _gomu gomu no gattling gun_ -ed the crap out of the entrance, accidently disabled the drawbridge which conveniently allowed the rest of the Strawhats to enter, and created mayhem and chaos throughout the castle, leaving his crew members to take care of the officers (which they did with little trouble), and eventually make it to the King, who had an elephant type devil fruit (which sadly did _not_ explain why he had four chins), and completely beat the crap out of him without breaking a sweat.

The entire island celebrated their freedom from the tyrant king, all of his 'wives' were freed, and the girl was reunited with her family. A good days' work, all in all.

The celebration lasted till morning, and the Strawhat's took off, having made another entire island their unintentional allies.

* * *

"Why can't we just ever have a normal experience?" Nami complained as she leaned against the railing, watching the island get smaller on the horizon. "Why do all of our trips on land end up some huge _thing_ where we have to fight?"

Robin, who was standing nearby, giggled. "I have a feeling that it's our captain and his luck."

"Or curse." Usopp walked past, muttering as he went to his garden to restock on all the pop greens he had had to use during his own battle.

"Nami-swa~n! Robin-chwa~n! Would you like a snack? I made it full of love especially for the two beautiful ladies you are!" He pirouetted his way to the two female pirates with a tray full of delectable, and no doubt healthy, snacks, beautifully decorated. They practically glittered.

"Ooh! I want some!" Luffy shouted from his special seat, frantically waving his arm. He rocketed his way over only to be stopped by Sanji's foot.

"These are for the ladies!" He growled angrily. "You sops can eat the leftovers!"

"Yohohoho! Perhaps I can smell how delicious they are from here! Although I have no nose. Yohohoho!" Brook joked from the upper deck where he had been watching Usopp wrestle with his plants. Literally.

"Zoro! Just let me check!" Chopper hurried after the green-haired man, dodging past Franky who was putting away the larger crates and barrels of their supplies and gifts they had collected. Zoro was balancing a crate that was as large as Franky's torso on his shoulder, a 100 bound bag of something under his other arm.

"I told you, it was just a graze from some shrapnel. It didn't even bleed." Zoro rolled his eye. The only one that was open and functioning.

"But it might get infected or something!" Chopper insisted. "Wounds on your stomach are dangerous!" Zoro snorted, tossing the giant crate to Franky like one would toss a baseball. Franky caught it just as handedly and set it on top of the stack.

"Relax. It's not infected and even if it were, I won't die from something like that. Go bother Luffy or something. He actually got injuries."

Chopper pouted at the brush off. "I'm just worried about you. You have a habit of getting the most injuries. You sometimes even beat Luffy!"

"Not this time." He waved off the human-reindeer as he tossed the bag to Franky as well. "I'm fine. Really. I'm going to go train now." He turned and headed for the gym/crow's nest.

He was stopped however by a sound. A sound that caused those closest to him, namely Franky and Chopper to turn their heads. "Eh?" They both asked in unison.

Zoro quickened his pace, refusing to look at either of them. Neither could see the reddening cheeks or their resident swordsman.

"What was that?" Franky asked, thinking perhaps there was something wrong his ears. Maybe a wire was shaken loose.

"It sounded like someone called Zoro's name." Chopper said, his brows furrowed as he watched said man quickly scale the ladder that led to the gym. "Like a young child did."

"Eh?" Franky asked concerned now. "I SUPER didn't hear _that_. I thought it sounded more like a cat or something. Like a 'meow'."

Chopper looked up at the closed hatch of the gym that Zoro had just disappeared into thoughtfully. "Maybe." He said slowly.

* * *

When lunch time rolled around, Usopp got stuck with the Zoro duty, meaning it was up to him to get Zoro to actually stop training long enough to get food. Sanji had a strict rule that they all eat at the same time, mainly because if anyone came late, Luffy would eat their food.

He tried to push open the hatch but surprisingly found it wouldn't open. _I didn't even think it_ could _lock._ He mused. He opted to knock instead.

"Oi! Zoro! It's lunchtime!" He waited, trying to hear inside. He could hear the clunk of metal, probably Zoro putting down those monstrous weights that Usopp's arms quaked at just the sight of. Thinking that his message had gotten across, Usopp was about to head back down when a noise stopped him. It kind of sounded like a cat or something. Confused, he put his ear to the hatch.

It sounded like Zoro's movements became quicker, perhaps flustered. He could hear grumbling and the sound of something heavy falling to the floor.

"Zoro?" He called questioningly. "You okay in there?"

"Yeah, I'm-" Zoro's voice cut off as the sound of something heavy being slid away from the hatch. Apparently it _didn't_ lock. The hatch was lifted open and Luffy was met with a half-dressed Zoro who was sweating. Nothing new there.

"Why was the hatch blocked?" Usopp asked. "I thought I heard-"

"I accidently left some weights on the hatch door." Zoro interrupted. "Move it. Luffy's going to eat all our food."

Usopp agreed and quickly descended, followed by Zoro who took a moment to firmly shut the hatch door before dropping down. Usopp might have thought his intensity for such a simply task odd if his meal wasn't in danger.

* * *

Nami looked up from her desk for what felt like the billionth time but was really only the 3rd or 4th. She had been sketching out a map of one of the islands that they previously landed on but was interrupted by a strange sound every so often. It sounded like a cat.

Huffing in annoyance, she rose from her desk. It was probably the idiot trip making dumb animals noises just to annoy her. She met Robin in the hallway.

"Hey Robin."

"Good Evening, Nami. Are you also going to investigate the strange noise?" Robin asked conversationally.

"You heard it too?" Nami responded. "At first I thought I was going crazy but it's probably just the boys playing some stupid game or something."

"Possibly." Robin said ambiguously, a small smile on her lips. They headed for the deck but bumped into Zoro who looked extra annoyed. Probably just off a fight with Sanji or something.

"Hey Zoro?" Nami stopped him before he could pass them. "Are the idiots out there playing some stupid game or something? We keep hearing meowing." To her surprise, Zoro's eyes widened and he looked … _shifty_.

"I don't know." He muttered, no quite looking them in the eye. "Probably. Why don't you go check or something?" He quickly brushed past them but not before Robin saw the way his eyes scanned the hallway like he was looking for something.

"What was _that_ about?" Nami asked confused as they watched Zoro suddenly turn into an empty storage room.

"Who knows?" Robin said smiling. "Why don't we go check on them like he suggested?" Since Nami was in the lead, she missed the knowing smile as Robin glanced back towards the doorway Zoro had disappeared into.

* * *

It took one week. Considering all the trouble Zoro went through as well as who his crew was, he was surprised it took that long. According to their navigator, they were probably only a few days away from the next island.

Zoro had lost the stupid thing again. It never stayed where he put it. Whenever he had to purposefully interact with another member, he tried to hide it in places no one would stumble on. Like when he had to go to the Galley and weasel some milk out of Sanji. Or when he had to go to Chopper and get him talking enough to weasel in some questions about proper care without the doctor getting suspicious. Whenever he returned, the stupid thing had abandoned its hiding place and Zoro would have to track it down without letting the rest of the crew in on the fact that he was looking for it. It was frustrating to say the least.

So when it finally made its own way onto the deck and sat in the middle of the grassy lawn meowing, he decided that it wasn't worth the effort to try and hide it any longer. Not to mention it was already growing and he didn't doubt that before long, he wouldn't be able to hide it in his stomach band any more.

"What's that?" Brook asked first, pausing in his song to look over to the source of the noise.

"There it is again!" Sanji shouted, running out of the Galley. That annoying noise had been haunting his kitchen all week!

Eventually all the crew members sans Zoro made their way over to the source and stared at it.

"It's a cat." Luffy said helpfully.

"We can see that!" Nami shouted, smacking his head. "What we want to know is how did it get here?"

"It can't have _swam_ , right?" Usopp asked. "We're too far from any island."

"I think it SUPER came on board at the last island. I remember hearing it last week." Franky answered.

"So have I." Sanji added. "Stupid thing has been annoying me all week. I could never find it. Now that I have, I can make a delicious stew." He smiled somewhat evilly. That thing had taken a special pleasure out of annoying him, he was sure.

"It seems a shame to harm such an innocent little thing." Robin said smiling warmly down at the small kitten. "It's so young."

"It's probably only a little over a week old." Chopper said, getting on his hooves and knees to inspect it closer. "It's really small for its breed so it can't be very old. Not to mention it doesn't seem to have much of a vocabulary." The kitten had been steadily meowing the entire time they had been discussing it.

"What's it saying?" Luffy asked.

"It's just saying one thing over and over again." Chopper leaned back and looked up at Luffy. "It's calling for Zoro."

As if on cue, said man suddenly stepped out from the lower deck looking around. All the Strawhats turned to look at him. He froze when he saw the kitten in the middle of the circle.

"Hey Zoro, this cat keeps calling for you!" Luffy said with a grin.

"Is it _yours_?" Nami asked with narrowed eyes. Zoro cleared his throat nervously. Finally, he sighed and relaxed in defeat. Really, there was nothing _to_ say.

"Yeah. I picked her up at our last stop." The kitten in question suddenly spotted Zoro and bounded over to him, her small tail waving happily. She jumped straight up into his arms, despite her small size. She purred and rubbed her head against his scarred chest. Zoro looked sheepish.

"What's her name?" Luffy asked stepping closer. The miniature cat was still purring in Zoro's hands but was looking at Luffy with narrowed eyes, as if daring him to get closer to what she obviously was claiming as hers.

"Erm." He scratched his cheek embarrassedly. "I was thinking of calling her 'Aoi'. 'Cause of her fur." The kitten did indeed have blueish fur, the black stripes that ran down her head and neck turning into spots that specked her body.

"You would have a weird colored pet. Just like you." Sanji smirked.

"Better a different color that a swirly-browed pervert like _you_." Zoro shot back.

"Why did you get it?" Nami asked, interrupting the fight before it could begin. At this, Zoro blushed slightly and avoided eye contact. Luffy was now trying to pet the cat but she kept batting his hand away. Zoro mumbled something.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you. Not that I have ears. Yohohoho!" Brook laughed.

"I _said_ ," He gritted his teeth and tried to force the blush away. "Someone had abandoned her in a box. I just happened to see her."

"And you rescued her?" Franky asked. "That's SUPER of you, bro! I'm totally not crying!" he wiped away the tears that started to fall from behind his glasses.

Nami groaned while the rest of the crew smiled. "But _why_?" She asked again. "Why'd you have to keep it? Why couldn't you just give it to someone back on the island?" Zoro frowned, absent-mindedly scratching Aoi's ear so that she would allow Luffy to reach over and pet her.

"It was the only way I could ensure she would be taken care of. I was only going to keep her until she was strong enough to care for herself."

"Yeah, Aoi is safe with us!" Usopp said, placing a reassuring hand on Nami's shoulder. "Besides, who could turn down such a cute face like that?" Nami glared at him. He quickly backed away.

"Oh! So that's why you asked me all those questions about taking care of cats!" Chopper said suddenly, also getting closer to the blue kitten.

"And why you suddenly wanted milk and not sake." Sanji said, lighting a cigarette.

"And why you've been so secretive of late." Robin grinned. Not that she hadn't figured it out days ago.

"Well make sure that you get rid of it on the next island." Nami said, folding her arms. "We can't afford a cat on our ship." Thinking that was the end of the conversation, the navigator was surprised when the entire crew suddenly turned on her.

"Oh come on!" Usopp complained. "We can't just dump her in another box!"

"Yeah! We'd be no better than her previous owners!" Franky protested.

"I must say, she's so cute as to warm my heart. Even though I don't have one." Brook crossed his hands over the left side of his chest.

"And she's much too young to fully take care of herself!" Chopper nodded, standing in between her and the kitten.

"Yeah!" Luffy shouted angrily. Although his anger might just have been his tendency to follow the crowd. "I want Aoi to stay!"

"If we simply left Aoi-chan on the next island, she might get eaten by a dog, or stepped on by someone." Robin advised. Usopp, Chopper, and Luffy all gasped in fright and instantly huddled around the kitten who was shaking and leaning into Zoro, trying to get away from all the people that suddenly were surrounding her.

Nami observed everyone's faces, from the calm face of Robin, to the crying face of Franky, to the horrified faces of the idiot trio. Zoro was frowning slightly at her, as if disappointed. She groaned.

"Fine!" She snapped. "You can keep the stupid thing! But its food and care is _not_ coming out of the budget." Her stipulation was almost unheard over the cheers of the majority of the crew. The immediately turned their attention to their new pet, trying to coax it out of Zoro's stomach band which she had burrowed herself into to escape.

As Nami walked away rolling her eyes, Sanji smirked at her. "Nami is most beautiful when she tries to hide her affection for the cat." She blushed and hurried past. Sanji grinned before turning back to observe the irritated Zoro pushing the crew away as they were trying to stick their own hands into his stomach band to get to the kitten.

 _Knowing the owner_ , Sanji thought to himself. _She'll probably annoy me for the rest of my life._

And he was right.

* * *

I wanted Zoro to have a cat. I will probably add Aoi as my own OC in later chapters. I love the idea of Zoro not being able to resist cute animals. Even though I'm a dog person myself and can't stand cats, cats just fit Zoro's personality better. BTW, I wanted him to have a big cat so I made Aoi a Savannah F-1. You can google it. Yes, they can be blue but probably not the same shade as I made Aoi. But in a world where green hair is considered natural, I figured what the hey.


	11. Chapter 11

Zoro's got skillz. Sometimes.

Sorry it has taken so long to update. This has been written for well over a month now, I just never got around to updating. Thanks so much to all my reviewers!

 **Disclaimer** : I reviewed the terms and conditions. It doesn't say I have to put a disclaimer in.

* * *

 **A – I**

"I'm telling you, you can't just charge in there like you always do!"

"Why not?! It always works! I'll just beat up the guy in charge and we'll be done!"

"Because you won't be able to _get_ to the 'guy in charge' if you make a huge scene at the entrance!"

Luffy and the leader of the rebel army, Alrin, glared daggers at each other. The tension was palpable.

The Strawhats had gotten their noses stuck in another internal battle. Currently, they were with the officers of the rebel army in the 'war room', the main tent where battle plans and strategies were created. In the center of the room, surrounded by rebel leaders and Strawhats alike, was a large circular table, an intricately drawn map of the inner city and the enemy's heavily fortified battle fort held down by weights and painted wooden pieces were scattered across the map, indicating various rebel and enemy troops. Usopp and Franky had carved surprisingly detailed figurines of the various Strawhats to add to the map, complete with trademark weapons.

Luffy pushed his 'mini-me' towards the entrance of the fort. "I'm telling you, I'll just bust in here and get to that square and beat him down!" He illustrated this by pushing the figurine straight towards the 'square' that indicated the enemy leader, completely ignoring the various walls and obstacles that actually blocked the path. His ability to visualize the battle ground was limited at best.

Alrin smacked his hand to his forehead in exasperation. "And I'm telling you, there is no direct line from the entrance to his bunker! It's a separate room with only one entrance. You can't bust through the walls of it because it's lined with seastone metal. Not only that, but you are completely ignoring all the rest of his troops, not to mention his 10 officers!" Said squares were pointed to.

As they continued to bicker, their argument devolving from planning a strategy to arguing about whether grilled meat was better than fried, Robin glanced over at the rest of her nakama.

She still got a happy tingle whenever she thought about that word. The fact that she was able to apply it to so many people never ceased to amaze her. Nami, the only other female member and possibly one of her closest friends among the crew, was groaning in embarrassment as she watched her captain argue the benefits of grilled meat.

Smiling, Robin let her eyes wonder to Brook, their skeleton musician who was laughing merrily at the spectacle. Franky was in a corner, his huge mostly metal form filling a quarter of the entire room. He was tinkering with some random part of his own body, either fixing or upgrading. Usopp and Chopper were watching him, stars in their eyes as they did, excited about the prospect of a robot upgrade.

Sanji, their blonde cook was fawning over a female leader, giving lengthy descriptions of her beauty, a beating heart in place of his only visible eye. The female was steadfastly ignoring him.

The member she was most surprised at was their quiet swordsman Zoro. She expected him to be sitting against the wall or a barrel, sleeping while he waited for the captain to tell him when he could fight. Instead, he was standing near the table, his arms folding, looking down on the map with a surprisingly intense expression. His right eye, the only one that worked now, was roving over the map, taking in all the pieces and their locations.

She raised a brow. _What are you thinking about, Zoro-kun?_ She wondered to herself.

Her silent question was answered a few minutes later. At that point, both captains had started to argue about whose impressions were more accurate, Luffy acting out his crew, and Alrin acting out his own members, much to the enjoyment of several members of both sides.

"Oi, Luffy." Luffy paused in his Usopp impression (which involved stretching out his own nose) to look over at Zoro. "Let's do 'Plan J'."

The majority of the Strawhats were confused but Luffy brightened. "Oh yeah! 'Plan J!" There was a pause. "What's 'Plan J'?" Nami punched him in the head.

"Don't act like you know what he's talking about if you don't!" She reprimanded.

"If it's marimo's plan, it's going to be just as ridiculous as Luffy's. Don't listen to him sweet Erin-chwa~n!" He turned back to said female leader, whose stern expression hadn't changed in the slightest since they started this 'planning' session.

Zoro growled at the cook but ignored him instead of getting into their usual arguments.

"Listen up." He began and started to reveal 'Plan J'.

* * *

The sign that signaled the end of the battle was Luffy shooting the enemy's leader into the sky, bloody, broken, and unconscious, with a final 'jet pistol' punch. Robin smiled as she watched the body drop to the ground in a surprisingly graceful arc. It reminded her of her first adventure with the Strawhats and Crocodile's demise. Ah, memories.

* * *

They gathered, somehow, on the steps of the fort. Those that were injured were seen to by a kind-hearted doctor-reindeer, who was alternating between kindly seeing to some patients and angrily yelling at others *cough Zoro cough* to stop moving and stop taking off the bandages.

The rest were gearing up for what was likely to be a spectacular celebration. Meat, both grilled and fried, was supplied to both leaders' joy. Sake and various booze was also rolled out which signaled the end of Zoro's treatment.

While the party was in full swing, Robin went over and sat down next to Zoro who had out-drunk several people and was simply enjoying the sake by himself, watching the antics of the crew with a small smile.

"May I sit here?" Robin asked. She settled on the broken marble pillar that he was resting on when he gave a curt nod. She took a cup of sake when proffered.

"Apparently it didn't matter whether it is grilled or fried." Robin observed. Indeed, Luffy was currently inhaling his nth fried meat leg while Alrin was munching on some grilled meat. Zoro snorted in amusement.

"They're both idiots. Meat is meat to them. It doesn't matter how it's prepared."

"Poor Sanji." She giggled. "He puts so much effort into his work." Said man was cooking along with the rest of the cooks, all of them gazing in awe at his skill.

"Nah." Zoro took another swig of sake. "Luffy appreciates the love-cook's food." Robin smiled enigmatically.

"And you? Do you appreciate his food?" Zoro raised a brow at her grin. He didn't answer, simply shrugged. She giggled. After a moment of calm, she broke the silence.

"That was quite an ingenious plan you created." He raised a brow. "I never realized you had skills in battle strategy." He gave a bark of laughter.

"Someone's got to on our floating asylum. Our captain sure doesn't." Said captain was trying to stick another whole leg of meat into his already overfilling mouth, even stretched as it was. She smiled.

"Indeed. I suppose it's the responsibility falls to you more often than not to lead us." Zoro shook his head.

"I don't lead. Luffy does. I follow, just like you guys." Robin smiled.

"Indeed."

* * *

I'm rereading OP and I got to the Alabasta arc where Zoro thought of the X under the bandage to counter act Mr. 2's devil fruit. That paired with that scene in the Dressrosa Arc created this plot bunny.


	12. Chapter 12

The beginning of this is kind of ramble-y. I wasn't sure how to start it so I just started typing and eventually got to what I wanted to write. Fluffy nonsense that has totally been done a thousand and one times before. I know. I've read them _all_.

Okay, have you guys read the latest chapter of OP? 833? I won't say anything because spoilers, but OMG. o.0

 **Disclaimer** : I think I will keep doing the disclaimers. It's sort of a habit and kind of a tradition. But I will not promote it! (rebel!)

* * *

 **Cotton Candy**

Night time on the Grand Line, in particular the New World, could be a very dangerous place. As such, they always made a point to lower the anchor for the night. It wouldn't do to be taken unawares while the majority of the crew was asleep.

Zoro always found this boring. He was usually the one on night watch. He volunteered for the duty often enough that most of the time the crew assumed he would do it without asking him. He normally spent his shift training and meditating. Meditating was difficult when on night watch not because of any distraction (usually there was a distinct _lack_ of distraction at night) but because when he was in full meditation mode, his awareness of his surroundings wasn't as sharp.

He countered this with using his meditation to focus on the spirit energy of his surroundings. It took a while but he became quite proficient at it especially when he employed his observation haki.

Thus he was well aware when the youngest Strawhat member woke in the middle of the night.

Now, let it be said here that he was no push over. He was Roronoa Zoro, Demon of the East, Pirate Hunter, member of Strawhat Luffy's crew, and creater of Santoryuu. He sent men running with just a look. He was not a softy, or a push-over, or anything of the like.

But with his nakama, in particular a certain human-reindeer hybrid, he was …different.

He waited patiently as his doctor made his way to the upper deck then up the ladder into the observation room Zoro was currently meditating in. Without a word, Chopper cautiously made his way over to the older man and sat down next to him. He didn't say anything or touch Zoro to bring his attention to him.

Zoro observed his smaller nakama's emotions still with his eyes closed. There was a bit of fear, worry, and other such negative emotions. A little embarrassment. And that strange emotion that could not ever be explained in any way. That emotion that drove the small monster to his nakama's side after a bad dream.

"What was it about?" He spoke up suddenly, still not opening his eyes or breaking his posture. Chopper startled but settled down again.

"It was like a slideshow of all the times people I cared about got hurt. And how I couldn't help them." Zoro felt the shudder as Chopper recalled the images. "You were there a lot. You always get hurt a lot."

At this Zoro finally opened his and looked over at Chopper. Said reindeer wasn't looking at Zoro, instead staring at the ground with sad eyes, his knees tucked into his chest, his arms wrapped around them. His signature hat was gone, left at his hammock's side. He seemed a lot smaller without it.

Zoro reached out a hand and placed it gently on the other's head. Chopper looked up at Zoro surprised.

"I do get hurt a lot. Not every battle, but enough, to be sure." Chopper frowned. "But I do so knowing three things. The first, that I'm working towards my dream, slowly but surely." Chopper smiled ruefully.

"Second," Zoro continued, absent-mindedly petting Chopper. Neither mentioned it. "I'm fighting to protect those behind me." He gave an affectionate push and Choppers smile turned warmer as he looked up at the man he respected and admired.

"And last but certainly not least," Zoro picked up Chopper who didn't protest, and settled him on his lap. Most times Zoro encouraged Chopper to grow up and act more like a man. But times like these, all alone in the middle of the night with no danger near, he allowed and somewhat encouraged his childish behavior. "I get hurt, knowing that I won't die. Because I have the best doctor in the whole world to fix me up."

"Stupid. I'm not happy that you said those things!" Chopper squealed, settling deeper in Zoro's chest, the large beefy arms wrapped warmly around him. He was grinning and giggling into his hooves. Zoro smirked and rolled his eye, resting his chin on top of Chopper head and stared out the large windows at the calm ocean in front of them.

"I know, Chopper. I know."

* * *

I think it's pretty much established that Zoro is the biggest softy among the Strawhats. I wish there were more moments like these in the cannon. But considering the genre, probably not. And that's why we turn to this site.


	13. Chapter 13

This is actually one of nine stories that I have floating around my head. One for each Strawhat. You'll understand when you read it.

 **Disclaimer** : _a statement that denies something, especially responsibility. Synonyms: denial, refusal, rejection. Origin: late Middle English (as a legal term): from Anglo-Norman French desclamer._ That's what I done did.

* * *

 **Dreams 2**

There was a stillness that not even the soft breeze could stir. An intense pressure that was suffocating, like standing at the bottom of the ocean.

The island was mostly devoid of life. A flora and fauna-less island. Only passing birds roosting on the tall points of the island to witness. According to Nami, it was a flourishing island, but many years ago, the volcano that had been dormant for centuries suddenly exploded without warning. Now the hardened lava painted the entire scenery in nothing but dark rock.

The only two occupants on the entire island were standing several meters from each other. One carrying three swords, the other just one oversized sword.

 _Go away. Far away._

 _What? Why? We want to see you-_

 _Because. I can't guarantee that I won't accidently kill you if you're too close._

 _…How far?_

 _…When you reach the next island, keep going._

No words were spoken. Both breathed in.

Then attacked.

* * *

"Oi! The waves still aren't stopping! It's been two weeks!" Usopp grumbled as another large wave crashed over the side of the _Thousand Sunny_ , drenching him and everyone else on deck. The sky was clear and the sun shone brightly, barely a cloud in sight, the breeze light and pleasant.

But the waves kept coming. The Strawhat crew had been battling unnatural waves for the past two weeks. There was no natural cause but everyone knew where they were coming from.

"At least it means that he's still fighting." Chopper mumbled as he shook off the majority of the strength-sapping sea-water from his fur. "That means he's still alive."

"Of course he is." Sanji offered a towel to Robin who smiled as he fawned over her. "That stupid muscle-marimo doesn't know how to die."

"Yohohoho! However, these waves are quite troublesome. We're even several kilometers away. I haven't been able to see the island for days. Not that I have eyes to see! Yohohoho!" Brook laughed at his own joke.

"Zoro-bro wasn't kidding when he said we should go far." Franky observed, rolling up a length of rope. "If we had been any closer when they started, we'd have been either SUPER cut up or the _Sunny_ might have rolled in the waves."

Nami was standing on the upper deck, carefully watching the ocean for any waves that they needed to avoid. They might have been safer further away, but they all wanted to be as close as possible for when the end came.

"I suppose we'll know when it ends." Usopp said, wringing out his now useless cleaning cloth for his various inventions.

"Nami!" Luffy suddenly shouted from his special seat, where he had been sitting for two weeks staring in the direction of his green-haired nakama. "Take us back!"

"Huh?" The crew all looked over at the captain. His face was serious.

"But Luffy," Nami called back. "He said not to get close!"

Luffy bowed his head, shadowing his eyes. "It's fine." He said quietly. "It's over."

* * *

The closer they got to the island, the harder the waves became. Everyone was constantly running back and forth in an attempt to keep their ship heading the right direction. What was worse was only a week after the fight began, the log pose that had been pointing towards the island started to swing, as if it was losing the magnetic connection. Now, a week later, it was idly spinning in circles, as if there was no connection at all. They were following Luffy's 'instinct'. While normally reliable, still somewhat nerve-wracking.

"Rock straight ahead!"

"On the starboard!"

"Everywhere!" Was the panicked cry! "Rocks are everywhere! Really big ones!"

Nami gritted her teeth and shouted instructions to lead them through this death trap. All the giant rocks were creating currents and waves and tidal pools and whirl pools and every other imaginable problem that most sailors _avoided_ because they had a tendency to lead to sudden and painful deaths.

"Luffy, I don't remember these obstacles being here the last time! Are you sure we're going the right way?" Sanji shouted over the crashing waves.

Luffy just nodded, still facing front. He had gotten off his special seat due to the likelihood of being thrown off and into one of the many very sharp rocks or the sea, both equally deadly.

"There!" It was Usopp who had pulled his goggles down, pointing straight ahead. At first, no one could see what he was pointing at, since they were all looking for the island that they had left. Then they saw it. Or rather, _him_.

A figure was sitting on a flatish rock, another figure collapsed next to him. Then they realized why they couldn't see the island and where all the rocks had come from.

The two swordsman had literally chopped the entire island to pieces.

* * *

Both swordsmen were in the infirmary, Chopper working on both as best he could. They had managed to get them on board and make their way out of the maze before sailing towards the nearest island. Now they were docked and simply waiting for either one to wake up and let them know.

They had at first assumed that the one sitting up had been the victor, but when they reached them, they discovered that neither were conscious and both were bleeding heavily. Only two swords remained, Dracule's and Zoro's white sword, Wado Ichimonji.

Suddenly, the door to the sick bay was opened and an exhausted Chopper exited, only to be instantly surrounded by the entire Strawhat crew.

"They are both alive." Chopper held up his hooves to stop the questions before they began. "I've stabilized them both. They lost a lot of blood so they both needed blood transfusions. We're going to need to restock our supply since they both have the same type. Neither are awake but they should wake up within the week."

"You should get some sleep yourself, Dr. Chopper." Robin smiled kindly down at the reindeer hybrid who was swaying on his hooves. Chopper simply nodded.

"Don't bother them. Only one person in at a time, but I need you guys to watch over them Just in case. Come get me if their condition worsens."

Chopper stumbled towards the men's room before Usopp took pity on him and carried him the rest of the way there. He was asleep before they even reached the door.

* * *

Another week. Hands down the longest week of everyone's lives. All they could do was wait. They restocked at the island, went sightseeing and exploring. They visited all the local tourist spots and even found some cool hole-in-the-wall places that usually only locals knew about. They fished. They slept. They played games. They read books. They joked and sang. They took long walks on the beach.

And they waited.

One week to the day, the monotony of trying to occupy the time was broken. It was broken by a happy cry.

"He's awake!"

Faster than Luffy could move in gear second, the entire crew was crowding into the infirmary, all trying to see their nakama. They were disappointed to find that the 'he' Chopper had been referring to was not the green-haired patient, but rather the raven-haired one.

Dracule Mihawk's infamous 'hawk-eyes' were bandaged due to injury. In fact, about 90% of his entire body was bandaged. But he was awake, evident by his struggling to sit up, ignoring Chopper's anxious warnings.

"I take it you are the Strawhats." His voice was a little hoarse from lack of use. "Thank you for picking me up as well. I know you weren't obligated." He nodded his head in the general direction of the crew. Some were slightly surprised that he knew where they were even with the bandage over his eyes and voiced this to the older man. He gave a rueful smile.

"Even if my observation haki were not up to par, which it is, I can still hear just fine." He tilted his head as if in thought. "And I suppose I'll have to get use to relying on both from now on."

"What do you mean?" Usopp asked confused. Chopper looked down sadly.

"I tried but, the damage…" He began but Mihawk waved him off.

"I'm afraid that my epithet will become a bit of a misnomer from now on. Perhaps as revenge for his own eye, young Zoro took both of mine." His smirk was amused and almost proud.

Not knowing quite how to address this new-found knowledge, Nami chose to instead change the subject.

"So?" She asked, leaning forward eagerly. "Who won?" Mihawk continued to smirk.

"Why don't you ask him?" He jerked his head towards Zoro's bed. They looked and were surprised to find that their swordsman had his right eye open, and was observing the group of Strawhats with a raised brow.

"Zoro!" They all happily cried, almost instantly forgetting the older man in favor of their nakama. Dracule was not offended. His smile turned warm as he listened to his disciple's nakama crowd and sometimes cry over him. Zoro wasn't happy with his personal bubble being invaded.

Chopper was able to push them back a little using his doctor's rights. Unable to wait, however, Usopp asked excitedly, "Who won?"

They all held their breath as they gazed down at the severely bandaged swordsman. Zoro glanced over at Mihawk, who smiled, feeling his gaze.

"I promised, didn't I?" Zoro's voice, after almost a month of not using it (the battle didn't call for much verbal sparing) was deeper and even rougher than Dracule's. He looked straight in Luffy's eye, who had been uncharacteristically calm throughout the dialogue. "I'd never lose again. Pirate King."

Luffy grinned.

* * *

And that's my take on how Zoro fulfills his dream. He got lots more scars from the battle. So did Mihawk. But he won! I was going to put something about Kuina in there but I didn't know where to put it. I might make a short one with her reaction to Zoro's win. Reviews might make that happen. Just sayin'.


	14. Chapter 14

I like writing drabbles. They're fun and easy. I don't have to worry about dialogue either. Which is usually why my stories take so long.

 **Disclaimer** : There is a saying. Someone said it. And it wasn't me.

* * *

 **Shield**

Ace was the protector. Even when he purposefully took the long, hard, and extremely dangerous way through the forest, probably to have Luffy give up or die, he was still being the protector. After all, if Luffy didn't toughen up and get stronger, then he really would die. And when Luffy was taken by Blue Jam's guys, Ace came and protected him. Every punch was like Gramps' fist of love. Just as painful.

During the fire, Ace stayed because he had to protect Luffy. If he ran with him, then Luffy would have been in more danger. He stayed. He fought. He protected.

When Sabo died, Ace protected Luffy. Not by coddling, not shielding him from the truth. It was much too late for that anyway. He protected him by promising to never die. By getting stronger and stronger. By being the undefeated older brother that watched over him, that learned proper manners just so he could thank Shanks when he found him.

And then he died. Protecting him. There really wasn't any other way for him to go. After the fact, far from Luffy's ears, those that knew Ace all agreed that protecting his little brother was really the only way that someone like Ace would have died. Because that's who he was.

He was the protector.

Zoro reminded Luffy of Ace a lot. It wasn't too noticeable at first, at least to someone that wasn't Luffy but Luffy could tell. Zoro was cut from the same cloth. An unbeatable yet passionate dreamer who got stronger because there was someone behind him. A protector.

That kind of person couldn't hide who they were. They couldn't help but protect. To be the shield that took the hits and then hit back twice as hard.

Zoro protected Luffy a lot. During battles, when he fell into the ocean, even when he needed that extra support, especially during the whole ordeal with Usopp in Water 7. He protected his name, his dream, his treasure, his whole being. There were times when Luffy, in an instinctual way that he couldn't explain, knew that Zoro had protected him without ever knowing how or even from what. Like during Thriller Bark. Luffy knew, he just didn't know from what.

But then there was Saboady. And all Luffy could do was watch in horror as Zoro was knocked down again and again, still weakened from Thriller Bark, until finally, with a silent sweep of a paw, he vanished. His protector was gone.

When Ace died, Luffy realized something. He was too weak. He had spent his whole life being protected. By the village, by Shanks, by Dadan, by Ace, by Sabo, by Zoro and the rest of his crew. All at their expense.

Limbs, time, money, blood, sweat, and tears. Even lives. All had been sacrificed for Luffy.

But no more.

So he put his dreams on hold, hanging up his hat, literally, so that he could get stronger. So that he would no longer be the person that people sacrificed for, but the person that did the sacrificing. So that he wouldn't be protected, but rather so that he could protect.

Two years later and he became that person. And he promised – himself, his nakama, Ace – that he would never stop getting stronger. So that he would never have to hold someone in his arms while they died for him ever again.

But as he heard the clang of steel on steel behind him and felt the large presence of his swordsman behind him as he blocked a swinging sword towards his back, he couldn't help but smile. It was still nice to know that he had his protector.

Even if he didn't need one.

* * *

I read a story where they compared Ace to Zoro and so I wanted to write one too. This was more Luffy-centric than Zoro but I still like it.


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